Well, at least he's got a sense of humor about it.
--- david david <
davividavid@yahoo.com> wrote:
> miker's not, um, a big fan of
post-structuralism.
>
> --- Michael Robison <
miker_zspider@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Jim Doherty wrote:
> >
> > My curiosity is overcoming my reluctance
to
> display
> > my
> > ignorance. What, exactly, is
"po-mo?"
> >
> > **************
> > More than you ever wanted to know, sliced out
of
> > last
> > September:
> >
> > In 1916 the collected lectures of Saussure
were
> > published posthumously in a thin volume
titled
> > Course
> > in General Linguistics. Called structuralism,
it
> > introduced a revolutionary concept into the
field
> of
> > linguistics. Formerly, the study of
language
> > emphasized the history of words, a field
called
> > etymology that examined the slow evolution of
word
> > similarities and derivatives.
Structuralism
> > stressed
> > differences instead, stating that words
are
> defined
> > by
> > difference rather than similarity.
Saussure
> > referred
> > to words as signifiers, the idea or thing that
it
> > stood for as the signified, and the word and
idea
> > together was the sign. Saussure's book
on
> > linguistics
> > lighted a slow-burning fuse that took over
forty
> > years
> > to make the transition into literary
criticism.
> In
> > the sixties, Roland Barthes and Jacques
Derrida
> > seized
> > upon structuralism's emphasis on differences
and
> > extrapolated it out to binary
opposites,
> > concentrating
> > on constructs such as light and dark, good
and
> evil,
> > male and female.
> >
> > Ten years later postmodernism was born.
The
> > movement
> > originated with the restoration of peace after
the
> > violent student rioting in France during the
late
> > sixties. A transmogrification of
structuralism,
> > postmodernism declared the binary opposites
of
> > structuralism as non-neutral constructs
that
> > supported
> > a philosophic bias, with one end of the
spectrum
> > seen
> > as more desirable or privileged than the
other.
> By
> > an
> > often contrived process, the
postmodernists
> revealed
> > the privileged construct and proceeded by
a
> process
> > called deconstruction to use minor or
obscure
> > details
> > to demonstrate conflicts in the
underlying
> > philosophy
> > of the text. The bottom line was an
established
> > methodology for demonstrating that the validity
of
> > absolutely everything can be denied. This,
of
> > course,
> > is not an original school of thought but rather
a
> > rehash of the Greek sceptics.
Postmodern
> scepticism
> > is founded upon a conclusion drawn from
two
> > premises.
> > First, human perception of reality is based
almost
> > exclusively on language. As Roland
Barthes's
> > dramatically stated, "There is nothing outside
the
> > text." Second, language is a
notoriously
> unreliable
> > media for portraying reality with any degree
of
> > accuracy.
> >
> > So what do you find in postmodern fiction?
A
> > standard
> > theme is the purposeful disruption of any sense
of
> > realism. Postmodernism considers realism to
be
> > bogus
> > because they consider language to be an
inadequate
> > tool for conveying reality. Therefore, realism
in
> > writing is dishonest, and a writing style
that
> > brings
> > attention to the contrivance of the story
is
> > desirable. Authorial intrusion upon the text
is
> one
> > technique used to disrupt realism. The story
is
> > interrupted by editorial commentary from
the
> author
> > in
> > a manner that accents the artificiality of
the
> text.
> >
> > It might be a discussion of a possible event
in
> the
> > author's life that inspired the story, like in
Tim
> > O'Brien's The Things They Carried, or the
author
> > might
> > talk about his price negotiations for the novel
at
> > hand, like in Nick Tosches's In the Hand of
Dante.
>
> > Another technique commonly used to impart
a
> > postmodern
> > flavor is manipulation of the
narrative.
> Narrative
> > structure with the usual suspects moving
through a
> > reasonably contolled timeline is old school.
The
> > narrative might be scattered, perhaps with
many
> > different characters doing inconsequential
bit
> > parts,
> > sometimes so convoluted and confused that
it
> simply
> > doesn't carry much of anything identifiable as
a
> > story.
> >
> > Another common postmodern theme is
the
> > deconstruction
> > of ideals and absolutes. Around the
mid-twentieth
> > century there was a strong belief that moral
right
> > and
> > wrong were founded on immutable and
absolute
> > principles. Postmodern scepticism eschews
any
> kind
> > of
> > certainty, and denies the validity of
these
> > absolutes.
> > In postmodern fiction, any character with
strong
> > moral beliefs will likely be proved to be a
fool
> or
> > a
> > fraud. Julian Barnes demonstrates this in
his
> > Arthur
> > and George. Arthur Conan Doyle, author of
the
> > popular
> > Sherlock Holmes stories, appears as a character
in
> > Barnes's novel. What first appears to
be
> > respectable
> > motives and upright Victorian morality
is
> > deconstructed into pathetic hypocrisy
and
> stupidity
> > by
> > the end of the book. There is an exception
to
> their
> > objection to absolutes. In postmodernism,
the
> > United
> > States typically stands as a symbol for many
of
> the
> > ideals that it disdains. As a result, the
moral
> > stance of anti-American characters is likely to
be
> > bolstered, without being subjected to the
usual
> > postmodern criticism.
> >
> > Another theme found in postmodern fiction
is
> > marginalization. Although language is
deemed
> > undependable, it can nevertheless wield
great
> power.
> >
> > Foucault identified certain schools of
thought
> that
> > centered around the favoring of some
binary
> > opposites.
> > Calling them discourses of power, he noted
that
> > they
> > empower particular groups of people
while
> isolating
> > others in a marginalized state.
Originally,
> > Foucault
> > concentrated on crazies and criminals
as
> > marginalized
> > by the social mores of the eighteenth century,
but
> > eventually Western democracy was targeted
by
> > postmodernism as a dominant discourse of
power,
> and
> > the portrayal of those marginalized by it
became a
> > popular theme. So instead of a bastion of
freedom
> > and
> > the epitome of Enlightenment philosophy,
Western
> > democracy is deconstructed into an
expansionist
> > tyranny. Pamuk's Snow demonstrates how
deeply
> > religious Muslims are pressured by
Western
> > oppression
> > into terrorist acts of liberation.
Barnes's
> Arthur
> > and George portrays Victorian society as
racist
> and
> > sexist.
> >
> > The establishment of the sanctity of
the
> individual
>
=== message truncated ===
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