Fredric Jameson, Postmodernism and Consumer Society Essay

Marxist literary criticism flourishes from Karl Marx and Engel’s theories on revolutionary change. Through the implicit and explicit detail of a novel, Marxist criticism unravels a text’s underlying economic purpose. A Marxist will read a text and expose “social contexts in ways which the author themselves would not admit” (158). A professor from the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) teaches authors inevitably impose their social class ideology on their work, consequently inserting an ideology within the lines of the novel reflecting the struggles of

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley depicts a future world that has mechanized and removed all sense of life to being human. In this world, people work for the common good of the community and are conditioned to dislike what, today, we would consider common and healthy relationships with people and environments. The story follows a man, John, not born into the culture and his struggle with the unfamiliarity with the “Brave New World”. Published in 1932, Brave New World often leaves roots back to the world Aldous was in when he was writing the novel. I believe the genius of Huxley’s writing was his ability to effectively select the traits of 1930’s society that would later become a staple for Americanism in the coming century and, in time, allowing for a relatable story to the modern day while giving us warning to the future.

for an earlier, more intact age, while the postmodernist employs it with a tone of exhilaration and liberation (Barry, 2002: 84). Postmodernists also draw a distinction between modernism’s and postmodernism’s perception of the relationship between “high” art and “low” art. Whereas the modernist would generally eschew the mixing of high and low art, in the postmodern realm it is not infrequent that these elements are conflated in one expression. Postmodernism stands in strong opposition to the kind of aesthetic elitism that postmodernists regard as inherent to modernist aesthetics. Postmodernists regard popular arts as no less crucial to our culture than the more classic arts. This is often perceived as a provocative view and has instigated many of postmodernism’s more austere criticisms. Although postmodernism is a notoriously difficult term to generalize, there are

The term postmodernism has been defined in different ways over the past years but it still hasn’t had its official definition. Postmodernism is a daunting subject because of the disagreements between people of how they interrupt texts and art. Postmodernism is a critic of what we assume to be real or a fantasy of what we want to be real. Postmodernism raises an importance of identity. Postmodernism is a style and concept of the arts, architecture and the criticism that shows a break from modernism. Postmodernism highlights ideas and theories. It can include different artistic styles in art. For example, an artist can mix pop art with an icon image such as Marilyn Monroe, or make recycled garbage into new art. Watchmen

Postmodernism is a term that lacks a definitive definition. According to Fabe, postmodernism has become meaningless, which is ironically appropriate because one of the core concerns of postmodernism is meaningless (173). Mast and Kawin note that “postmodernism analyzes a world without a definitive center,” and builds on references to popular culture (630). In class, we discussed that postmodernism comments on contemporary culture, often through quotation, appropriation, borrowing, homage, reusing, and recycling. After watching the two postmodern films, Annie Hall and How Tasty Was My Little Frenchman, I think postmodernism fits into all of these definitions. I also think postmodern films offer a sort of truth that is often unrecognizable

A weakness of postmodernism, its central one according to critics, lies in its refusal to point out an alternative path for social life. Postmodernists assert that all aspects of social life are subject to the same dynamics so as such, there is

Postmodernism is a term which is highly contested in the sociological world, where it is used to indicate a significant detachment from modernism. It is easier to give the uses of the term; ‘to give a name to the present historical period, to name a specific style in arts and architecture and to name a point of rupture or disjuncture in epistemology’ (Buchanan, 2010). For this,

The goal of A Primer to Postmodernism, written by Stanley Grenz, is not to justify or disprove postmodernism but to enlighten the audience on the purpose of postmodernism. This book should be recommended to everyone interested in the subject but to all Christians in order to learn the current and potential enemies that they will be facing. As modernity continues to fade and postmodernity’s open truths that welcome those who are no longer interested in having to look towards a Divine Creator as the reason for being, Grenz’s work will be a tool to help bring postmodernism to

Marshall Berman’s take on modernity is presented in his book All That Is Solid Melts into Air whereby he focuses on its issues and the cultural attitudes and philosophies towards the modern condition. In doing so he shares his experiences of modernity post WWII in New York in the height of an economic boom and then more specifically of his childhood neighbourhood, the Bronx. In addition to expanded austerity, industrial and architectural development, the end of WWII proved to be a key period in world history and by extension the history of art. A talented group of artists emerged in result that had been influenced by an influx of established European artist who had fled to New York to escape fascist regimes in their homelands. More importantly these artists produced art that was at the heart of maelstrom Berman describes in regards to his experience of modernity. I aim to highlight the correlation between Berman’s experience of modernity and the emergence of a new American modernism. Modernity throughout this period was broken into two different compartments, hermetically sealed off from one another: "modernisation" in economics and politics, "modernism" in art, culture and sensibility. It’s through the lens of this dualism in which we recognise that both Berman and these artists try to make sense of the world around them by making their individual expressions that would re-conceptualise what it is to be modern in the twentieth century.

Post Modernism Perspective’s- "According to postmodern perspectives, existing theories have been unsuccessful in explaining social life in contemporary societies that are characterized by post industrialization, consumerism, and global communications (Kendall, 01/2014, p. 29).”Postmodern theories are based on the assumption that the rapid social change that occurs as societies move from modern to postmodern (or postindustrial) conditions has a harmful effect on people. One evident change is the significant decline in the influence of social institutions such as the family, religion, and education on people’s lives. Those who live in postmodern societies typically pursue individual freedom and do not want the structural constraints that are imposed by social institutions (Kendall, 01/2014, p. 29). "Postmodern (or “postindustrial”) societies are characterized by an information explosion and an economy in which large numbers of people either provide or apply information, or they are employed in professional occupations (such as lawyers and physicians) or service jobs (such as fast-food servers and health care workers). (Kendall, 01/2014, pp. 29-30)

To fully appreciate the differences and similarities between Postmodernism and Modernism, it is required to understand exactly what they are. Modernism is the term we give to the accumulated creations and activities of designers in the early 20th century, who had the theory that traditional forms of literature, religion, social organization, and most of all, art and architecture, had become outdated in the new social, political, and economic environment of a fully industrialised world. One of the main characteristics of Modernism is self-consciousness, which typically caused exstensive experimentations of form and function. The creative process of generating work was also explored, forming new techniques in design. Modernism rejected all ideology of realism and prefers to reference and parody works of the past. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is a radical rejection of Modernist design. Taking place in the late 20th century, it is a movement in art, criticism, and architecture that disputes the majority of modernist tendencies. The Postmodernist analysis of society and culture lead to the expansion of critical theory and advanced the works of architecture, literature, and design. This entire re-evaluation of the western value system of popular culture, love, marriage, economy, that took place from the 1950s and 60s, leading to the peak of the Social Revolution in 1968, is commonly referred as Postmodernity which influenced postmodern thought, as opposed to the term

Rolling into the late 19th and early 20th century, modernistic literature became the style of writing. Modernistic thinking was a rebellion against realism, in which the literature was very abstract. The writers of that time period were experimental and used unusual techniques. There were four sub-categories of modernism: surrealism, cubism, existentialism, and dadaism. Surrealism and existentialism were the most popular of the four. Surrealism was very dreamy-like writing, such as the work done by an artist named Daly. Existentialism dealt with the belief that the human existence had free will- there were no gods and humans had control of there own philosophy. Writers such as Camus were existentialists. The final literary movement that will be discussed is postmodernism. Postmodernism was an attempt by many artists to arrive at a united, global culture. Postmodernists had optimistic views that things could get better. Instead of concentrating on the fragments of destruction, they gathered all of the fragments together and made an optimistic outlook.

The main features of a postmodernist are that he or she is overly subjective, sensitive towards the role of ideology in assertion and maintenance of political and economic power. On the other hand, a modernist for example, there exists objective natural reality which is independent of human beings, their practices and relationships (Duignan, 2014). Such realities

            While Marxist critics must admit that they themselves are helpless to avoid the effects of hegemony, the critical project of Marxist literary criticism remains steadfastly committed to the attempt to identify and understand the mediating contexts in which the forces of hegemony exert pressure on a text, its author, and its audience. These contexts manifest themselves within specific historical, economic, political, cultural, etc... conditions. In order to discover such contexts, a work of art cannot be uprooted from the specific temporal circumstances in which it is read or created and regarded as an isolated purely original entity. Literature, for better or worse, is mired in history.

Postmodernism refers to a broad term used to explain movements in philosophy, art, music and critical theory. Postmodernism is viewed as a reaction to the pioneering modernist movement. In literature and art, postmodernism responds against classical ideas. With respect to post-structuralism and structuralism, there is a great difference between postmodernism