Postmodern/ Contemporary Literature

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Postmodern/ Contemporary Literature
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Origins of the Era

• Atomic bomb1945
• Aftermath of WW II
• Increasing technology

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Atomic Anxiety

• Created fear/ panic
• Cold War
• Bomb shelters

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Effects

• Gallows Humor
• Ironic humor/ dark humor
• DISILLUSIONMENT and CYNICISM!

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Increased Disillusionment/ Disconnect

• Vietnam
• Watergate
• Me Generation
• Generation X
• Generation Y/ Me2/ i

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Impact of Technology

• Rapid development in science and technology has
  impacted
• entertainment
• communication
• information
• global issues
• the individual person often seems lost in the
  fast-paced, computerized world

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Postmodern Fiction

• Diversity of voices
• Multiple meanings and interpretations
• Nontraditional forms
• Works comment upon themselves, criticize
  themselves

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Postmodern Nonfiction

• Blends elements of fiction with nonfiction
• Irony, foreshadowing, characterization, etc.
• The New Journalism
• Adds personal elements
• Literary devices

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Postmodern Poetry

• Rejection of modern poetrytoo impersonal/
  complicated
• New poetry is personal and accessible
• The Beat Generation
• Kerouac and Ginsberg
• Confessional Poets
• Plath and Sexton