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
> was the supreme philosophical achievement of
the
> Renaissance, and a philosophy of natural rights
and
> a
> structure of government that supported it was
the
> apogee of the Enlightenment. In postmodernism,
the
> individual loses importance and becomes little
more
> than an arbitrary intersection of varying
and
> dubious
> discourses, so debunking the value of the
individual
> is a primary postmodernism theme.
Postmodern
> characters are often drab, uncommitted,
uninspired,
> and lifeless, often little more than text on
the
> page.
> In postmodern thought, this is not bad writing;
it
> is
> the intended effect. Generally, the
characters
> accomplish little. Any significant
accomplishment
> would have the suspicious aura of mattering,
a
> dangerous flirting with the obviously bogus
concept
> of
> an ideal worth working towards. In a
postmodern
> mystery novel, the mystery most likely won't
get
> solved, and if it is solved, it won't matter
to
> anyone. If it's a crime novel, nobody will pay
for
> the crime, but on the outside chance that
somebody
> does, it won't be the person who committed the
crime
> and, again, it won't really matter.
>
> miker
>
>
>
>
=== message truncated ===
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