Postmodernism...The Novel

1
Postmodernism...The Novel

• The term Postmodern literature is used to
  describe certain characteristics of post-World
  War II literature (relying heavily, for example,
  on fragmentation, paradox, questionable
  narrators, etc.) and a reaction against Classical
  and Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist
  literature
•  
• Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a
  whole, is hard to define and there is little
  agreement on the exact characteristics, scope,
  and importance of postmodern literature

2
But, I'll try it anyway...

• Instead of the modernist quest for meaning in a
  chaotic world, the postmodern author eschews,
  often playfully (or with satire), the possibility
  of meaning, and the postmodern novel is often a
  parody of this quest.
•  

3
What else to PMs do?

• This distrust of modernist traditions extends
  even to the author and his/ her own
  self-awareness. 
•  
• The distinction between high and low culture is
  also attacked with the employment of pastiche,
  the combination of multiple cultural elements
  including subjects and genres not previously
  deemed fit for literature. 
•  
• Consider the way Saleem tells his story
  dependence on both written and oral traditions
  which inevitably leads to conflict in the telling
  of the story itself.

4
Comparing Mods and P-Mods...

• Both modern and postmodern literature represent a
  break from 19th century realism
•  
• In character development, both modern and
  postmoderns explore "subjectivism", turning from
  external reality to examine inner states of
  consciousness, and draw on modernist examples in
  the stream of consciouness styles of William
  Faulkner, Virginia Woolf, and James Joyce. In
  addition, both modern and postmodern literature
  explore fragmentariness in narrative- and
  character-construction
•  
• Modernist literature sees fragmentation and
  extreme subjectivity as an existential crisis, or
  Freudian internal conflict, a problem that must
  be solved, and the artist is often cited as the
  one to solve it

5
Mods vs. P-Mods...

• Postmodernists, however, often demonstrate that
  this chaos is insurmountable
•  
• the artist is impotent, and the only recourse
  against "ruin" is to play within the chaos
•  
• Playfulness, humor, sarcasm, irony,  is present
  in many modernist works but with postmodernism
  such aspects becomes central and the actual
  achievement of order and meaning becomes unlikely

6
Does P-Mod Still Exist? Maybe.

• Postmodernism in literature is not an organized
  movement with leaders or central figures, so it
  is difficult to say if it has ended or when it
  will end (compared to, say, declaring the end of
  modernism with the death of Joyce or Woolf).
•  
• Arguably postmodernism peaked in the 60s and 70s
  with the publication of Catch-22 in 1961 as one
  example.

7
Does P-Mod Still Exist? Maybe.

• Some declared the death of postmodernism in the
  80's with a new surge of realism represented and
  inspired by Raymond Carver
•  
• However, Chuck Palahniuk, David Foster Wallace,
  Michael Chabon, and Cormac McCarthy have surfaced
  recently with very P-Mod novels 
•  
• Finally, as mentioned before, P-Mods tend to be
  satiric (though not necessarily creators of
  satires)

8
Mods, P-Mods and Midnight's Children

• Again, instead of the modernist quest for meaning
  in a chaotic world, the postmodern author
  eschews, often playfully, the possibility of
  meaning, and the postmodern novel is often a
  parody of this quest.
•  
•  Consider Saleem's conscientious attempts at a
  "gang" the "Midnight's Children's Conference"
•  
•  Should we really take Saleem and his story
  seriously? The nose? The knees? The hamper? The
  stripping of Sonny? The thunder box? The physical
  features?
•  
• Also, consider Shiva's open disregard for any
  sort of meaning "God knows how many millions of
  damn fools living in this country, man, and you
  think there's a purpose."

9
In Other Words...

• Shiva is Saleem's foil, and perhaps exists to
  offer a dose of reality to Saleem and the reader
• In fiction, a foil is a character who contrasts
  with another character (usually the protagonist)
  in order to highlight various features of that
  other character's personality, throwing these
  characteristics into sharper focus.
•