Post modernism is within itself not merely a concept of concepts but a structural
undertaking that we adhere towards, despite the genres actual resistant nature towards
institution it is a form, albeit be a freeform, and as such there are many aspects which
have generated the idea of post modernism within my very own book A romance,
Possession.
The very essessence of time, the very stable being with which we depend on for
relativeness is contorted and wihtin post modernism but a reminder that nothing is certain.
The very nature with which the characters within possession are simulatneously, and
almost naively , although roland does realise this aspect of the story, intertwined and the
story of fates, and the threads with which bind fate and ultiamtely us together is
illustrated within the story. This concept is at the basis of many a book classified as being
post modern. The two parallel relationships are best exemplified with the the journey
towards Boggle Hole. This journey illustrates the very unique concept of time as nothing
more than a construct with the very same route being undertaken by the historical couple
and again the similiarities are but a feautre of the vastness of postmodernity and its ability
to link two seemingly unrelated topics together. The two paths seemingly become
involved and conjoined within each other and blur the boundaries to an extent that the
two ultimately are one to the reader.
“With precise postmodernist pleasure” Roland thinks “ that he and Maud were being
driven by a plot or fate that seemed at least possibly not their fate but that of [ Ash and
LaMotte.”
Possession also utilises the concept of historical truth as another tool in its story. The
"real" history according to post modernism, does not exist as a singuar being but rather as
a combination of our own experiences ad perspectives on a certain event, thus meaning
an endless plethora of possibilities, interpretations and opinions. This therefore reinforces
the fact that the search for the truth cannot in anyway reveal the full extent of the past,
although attempts to uncover and retell a vast majority is not neccessarily a bad thing,
and this concept will forever plague the two scholars who wish to find, and sometimes
stumble upon, the truth about the literary Randolph Ash and Christabel LaMotte. Within
the “Postscript 1868” for example Randolph Ash has had an encounter with his own
daughter, telling her to tell her supposed aunt, Christabel, that she “met a poet, who was
looking for the Belle Dame Sans Merci, and who met you instead.” This message was
forgotten my Maia but only reinforced the idea that no matter the efforts used to uncover
the truth, be it literary analysis or letter-stealing, the truth could not be fully known to
person, only a truth which was constructed utilizing the experiences, and circumstances
regarding the search for the truth.
The metanarrative of history found within many a post modern novel, is also present
within Possession, and its strength is in its ability to push along and predict the path to
which the two present day scholars will take. Roland, through the voice of the narrator,
concludes that “finding themselves in a plot, they might suppose it appropriate to behave
as though it was that sort of plot ( p456 ). Essentially it simply states that post modernism
and all its theories and dogmas are nothing more than another period within the history
and is echoed throughout the book through the character of Maud. This is in response,
whilst some say in reaction, to the teachings found with post modernists such as Jameson
and Lyotard.
“Roland had been trained to see his idea of his ‘self’ as an illusion.”
The fusion of genres and cut and paste routine of today’s society compliments the post
modern view on boundaries, or in this case lack thereof, with the adaptation of the
traditional literary structure to accommodate modern forms of literature. The importance
and necessity of the metanarrative, a revolt against the basic forms of post modernism
who place little to no importance within it and in other cases discard its use within
literary novels, of history and subjectivity. This raises the other matter of subjectivity
which in itself is the basis for many a debate particularly with the other said subject,
history. They have formed the underlying ideal of the lack of objectivity and the
importance of subjectivity as a form of identifying the very essence of the event and of
the individual, a mainstay of post modernism and as a revolt to the machinations of the
corporate conformism of the modern world today. Yet despite all this Lyotard has refuted
the use of metanarratives as being something which is entirely useless and the product of
conformism, yet despite that I feel that it is in fact an oversight on his behalf that they
have overlooked their very own concepts within modern day and in fact have themselves
reduced their very concepts of post modernism towards a fad, a passing phase of literacy
like all those which came before it, and that the supposed departure from the “traditional
ways” is in fact nothing more than an illusion of itself and has in fact remained true to its
previous structures. This means that post modernism has in fact “become itself a
symptom of the state it seeks to diagnose” – ( Jameson ). This, though provides
Possession with a literary basis and rather than a complete departure and off shoot from
the mainstream literacy, is but a progressive change within the culture and narrative
theory which evolves, appends and shifts with the times to incorporate the new with the
old. Metanarratives are therefore not the product of mediocre literacy but are still the
underlying concept within stories and their plots.
This is the paradox within post modernism, as we try to further break free of the barriers
and rules which bind us the more restricted we become. There are far more rules to say
what you cannot do than those which say what we can, and that is perhaps the flaw or the
crux of the period. We search for a future which we seem not to know, sporadically and
randomly but as Roland discovered through the literary and historical journey with which
he traverses destiny and fate cannot be escaped no matter our thoughts or concepts on the
matter.