Postmodernism Characteristics

http://www19.homepage.villanova.edu/karyn.hollis/prof_academic/Courses/2104/mod_vs_post_mod.htm

Indeterminacy of Meaning
Meaning from language; not fixed
Fragmentation
Preference for montage, collage, paradox, found objects
Decanonization
Distrust of Meta-narratives
Death of God, Man, Author
Deconstruction of Phallogocentric orderSelflessness–
Surface is all; no more “deep” heros or “pregnant symbols”
No “masterpieces”
No depths, no interpretations; depthlessness
Interest in “play of language”
Failure of social and linguistic systemsTexts deconstruct themselves rather than provide stable, identifiable meaning
Language becomes subject matter–its implications in human experience
Text always in dynamic state of change; provisional meaning
Suspicions of representation

Always working within dominant discourse
Critical revisiting of literary past
Discourse shapes social roles, “reality,” human subjectivity
Reality as unrepresentable, no mimesis
Delight in artifice of writing, rather than to make contact with perceived extra-fictional reality

Prefers irony, hybridization, mutation of genres
parody, travesty, pastiche
Merging of popular and “high” cultural forms
–non-fiction novel
–mixed media

Carnivalization, inside out, clowns uncrowning of kings
Interest in performance; culture as performance of roleFragmentation of subject/ point of view
Loss of psychological unity
Past becomes nostalgia (return to past or home)
Feminist deconstructionDominance of commercialism
Human powerlessness in face of technology
Increasing fragmentation of contemporary life
Fascination with technology

Rejection of universal reason as foundation for human affairs
Politics of terrorism

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