Postmodern Literature and Philosophy: Key Concepts and Movements

How is Postmodern literature broadly defined?

It is literature from the 1960s to the present that utilizes pastiche and parody, takes a radically relativistic philosophical stance, and emphasizes a kind of linguistic and structural informality or looseness.

How does philosopher Jean Francois Lyotard define postmodernism?

He broadly defines it as an 'incredulity towards metanarratives'.

What is the postmodern philosophical focus regarding language and reality?

Postmodern philosophy focuses on 'discourse,' meaning language itself is at issue rather than 'reality'.

What key methodology is heavily utilized in postmodernism to interrogate texts?

Deconstruction.

According to Jean Baudrillard, what are 'simulacra and simulations'?

To simulate is to pretend to have what you do not have; underneath the image, there is nothing.

What are Baudrillard's 4 Phases of the Image?

1) It reflects reality. 2) It masks or distorts reality. 3) It masks the absence of reality. 4) It makes no pretense of a relation to reality whatsoever.

What are the primary aesthetic values and characteristics of Postmodern literature?

It celebrates surface over depth, process over product, and experience over meaning.

What specific literary techniques and tones are frequently used in postmodernism?

Metafiction, populism, casual tone, parody, pastiche, and surrealism.

How does the postmodern 'Literary Continuum' differ from Mid-Century Modernism?

Postmodernism views art as a product of culture with a political purpose, unlike mid-century modernism which viewed art as a self-contained object.

Who are the First-Wave Postmodern Writers and what characterizes their work?

Writers include Joseph Heller, John Barth, and Kurt Vonnegut, characterized by dark humor and metafiction.

Who are the Second-Wave Postmodern Writers and what characterizes their work?

Writers include Thomas Pynchon, E.L. Doctorow, and Don DeLillo, characterized by distrust of linear history and critique of media culture.

What is 'New Journalism' or 'Creative Nonfiction'?

A subcategory of postmodern writing that uses fiction techniques to report factual events.

What is Minimalist Fiction, and how did it react to the postmodern era?

It reacts against complex postmodern novels, using flat language and brief vignettes.

What was the general stance of postmodern American poetry?

Postmodern movements formed as a reaction against the 'objective,' 'impersonal' ideology of mid-century New Critics.

What 1960 publication is considered the 'coming out party' for the American avant-garde?

Donald Allen's The New American Poetry.

How does Charles Olson's 'Projective Verse' represent postmodern thought?

It emphasizes the process of composition and the truth of the present moment.

What are the key postmodern poetry movements and groups?

The Beats, San Francisco Renaissance, Black Mountain School, New York School, Confessional Poetry, Deep Image, Language Poets, and the Black Arts Movement.

How is 'Midcentury Modernism' described in relation to the earlier modernist period?

It is described as 'modernism without experiment,' maintaining key aesthetic features but avoiding the rough edges of experimentation.

What overarching philosophical and literary themes predominated during the midcentury moment?

Existentialism and realism, focusing on the individual in an affluent society.

What specific terms and 'fallacies' did the New Critics focus on?

They focused on irony, paradox, ambiguity, The Intentional Fallacy, The Affective Fallacy, and The Heresy of Paraphrase.

Who were the Fugitives and what did they advocate?

A group of southern writers advocating for a return to rural, agrarian socio-economic policies and traditional values.

What major manifesto and literary journals are associated with the Fugitives?

Their manifesto is I'll Take My Stand, and they established The Southern Review and The Kenyon Review.

What is 'The New Yorker Story' and its defining characteristics?

A genre of literary short fiction featuring carefully wrought prose, physical description, well-educated characters, and oblique endings.

What is 'New Formalism' and who are some of its key writers?

A movement advocating traditional forms in poetry; key writers include X. J. Kennedy, Richard Wilbur, and Robert Pinsky.

Who are two notable 'hard-to-classify' poets from the postmodern era?

A.R. Ammons, known for 'Corson's Inlet,' and John Berryman, known for Dream Songs.

What unique problem does the postmodern American writer face according to Philip Roth?

The problem that fact is stranger than fiction due to media saturation and materialism.

What does Frank O'Hara argue in his manifesto 'Personism'?

He argues that poetry should be about feelings and impulses, especially love, without the need for structured forms.

How is Minimalism defined as a broader movement in art history?

Characterized by extreme simplification of form and shape, a limited monochromatic palette, objectivity, and anonymity.