Postmodernism
Authors and
Literature
What is Postmodernism?
• Postmodernism is a term that encompasses a
wide-range of developments in philosophy, film,
architecture, art, literature, and culture.
• Originally a reaction to modernism, referring to
the lack of artistic, intellectual, or cultural thought
or organized principle.
• Started around 1940s, exact date is unknown.
• Peaked around the 1960s and 1970s with the
release of Catch 22 and Slaughterhouse Five
Postmodern Literature
• What is it?
- Used to describe the different aspects of
post WW2 literature (modernist literature).
- There is not a clear and defined definition of
postmodernism because of the little
agreement of the concepts and
characteristics and ideas within
postmodernism.
Postmodernist Literature
• Postmodernist Literature contains a
broad range of concepts and ideas
that include:
- responses to modernism and its ideas
- responses to technological advances
- greater diversity of cultures that leads to cultural
pluralism. (small groups within a larger society
maintain their culture identity).
- reconceptualizations of society and history
Postmodern Literature
• There are a few similarities to modernist
literature.
- Like modernist literature, both are usually told from an
objective or omniscient point of view.
- Both literatures explore the external reality to examine
the inner states of consciousness of the characters
- Both employ fragmentation in narrative and character
construction
Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• Irony, playfulness, black
humor
- Example: The Crying Lot of 49, Pynchon
uses childish wordplay while discussing
serious subjects. An example of his
wordplay can be found in the names of his
characters: Mike Fallopian, Stanley
Koteks, Mucho Maas, and Dr. Hilarius.
Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• Patiche
- Authors often combine multiple elements in
the postmodern genre.
Example: Pynchon includes elements from
science fiction, pop culture references,
and detective fiction to create fictional
cultures and concepts.
Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• Metafiction
- Writing about writing, often used to undermine
the authority of the author and to advance
stories in unique ways.
Example: In Italo Calvino’s novel, If On a Winter’s
Night a Traveler, is about a reader attempting to
read a novel of the same name. In Kurt
Vonnegut’s novel, Slaughterhouse Five, the first
chapter is about the writing process of the novel.
Postmodern Literature:
Common Themes
• Paranoia
-The belief that there is something out of the
ordinary, while everything remains the
same.
Example: In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel,
Breakfast of Champions, a character
becomes violent when he imagines
everyone else as a robot and he is the
only human.
Postmodern Literature:
Influential works
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•
•
•
•
•
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Catch 22 – Joseph Heller
Slaughterhouse Five – Kurt Vonnegut
Lost in the Funhouse – John Barth
The Things They Carried – Tim O’Brien
White Noise – Don DeLillo
Gravity’s Rainbow – Thomas Pynchon
The Crying of Lot 49 – Thomas Pynchon
Postmodern Authors
• Joseph Heller
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-
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Born May 1, 1923 in Brooklyn,
New York
Known for his post World War
satires and playwrights
Catch 22 most well-known of
his works
Other works include:
Something Happened, Good
as Gold, and Closing Time.
Also wrote plays: We Bombed
in New Haven, Catch 22,
Clevinger’s Trail
Postmodern Authors
• Thomas Pynchon
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Born May 8, 1937 in Glen
Cove, New York.
Known for his fictional writing
over many different subjects
that include: science,
mathematics, and history
Known for his early works: V,
The Crying of Lot 49, and
Gravity’s Rainbow.
Also wrote essays concerning
diverse topics such as missile
security and Watts Riots ( a
large scale riot that lasted six
days in the Watt’s
neighborhood of LA).
Postmodern Authors
• Kurt Vonnegut
- Born November 11, 1922 in
Indianapolis, Indiana
- Known for using Patiche in
his works. Blends satire,
black comedy, and science
fiction to create novels, such
as Slaughterhouse Five and
Breakfast of Champions.
- As a former soldier and
prisoner of war, many of his
experiences influenced his
later works.
Postmodern Authors
• Tim O’Brien
-
Born October 1, 1946 in Austin,
Minnesota
- His career began with the
release of If I Die in a Combat
Zone, Box Me Up and Ship me.
Wrote mainly about his
experiences in the Vietnam War
- O’Brien uses fiction and reality
and blends them into his own
genre. He labels his works
fiction, however, he uses his
situations he experienced in his
works.
- Most famous work: The Things
They Carried
References
•
"Joseph Heller." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 19 Mar 2008, 05:42 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Heller&oldid=199280810>.
•
"Kurt Vonnegut." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Mar 2008, 18:26 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kurt_Vonnegut&oldid=199877168>
•
"List of postmodern authors." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 10 Mar 2008, 12:37
UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=List_of_postmodern_authors&oldid=19721
5707>.
"Postmodern literature." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 21 Mar 2008, 16:46 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Postmodern_literature&oldid=199856493>.
•
•
"Thomas Pynchon." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 15 Mar 2008, 14:23 UTC.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Mar 2008
<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Pynchon&oldid=198410127>.