Postmodern Day 1 - Postmodernism

• emerged as a response to the limitations of modernism

  • modernism was based in originality and authenticity, postmodernism began to give up on that

• after WWI and WWII, optimism was effectively destroyed, artists began to question the stability of knowledge and the nature of reality

• consumer culture and media on the rise

• senses of fragmentation and complexity, self-awareness and alienation

literature

• forms and genres:

  • metafiction

  • fragmentation

  • pastiche (imitating the style of another work) and intertextuality

  • irony and satire

  • unconventional storytelling

• themes and motifs:

  • skepticism of grand narratives

  • identity/identity crises

  • blurring of high and low culture

  • distrust of language (struggling to put things into words, using types of wordplay to get across your meaning)

  • simulacra (a physical symbol for a broad reality) and hyperreality

• postmodern drama (theatre)

  • emerged as an extension of other literatures

  • breaking the fourth wall

  • incorporated elements of metafiction

the ruling class (1968)

• working class began to struggle for more power

• social hierarchy being highlighted

• dangers of political power being explored

• countercultural movements

  • challenged the norms being upheld by the aristocracy (ruling class)

• changing moral values

• critique of conservatism

• settings and characters of the ruling elite

  • the gurney estate

  • jack, 14th earl of gurney

    • ruling class is so complex, insanity → understanding his privilege, ruling class has to confront its role in [corruption]

  • supporting characters represent all the opinions and parts of the ruling class

ruling class as a postmodern text

• challenging social norms, especially the aristocracy

• dismantling the view of upper class as noble and superior

• critique of religion

  • jack viewing himself as jesus (even though he is delusional and truly does believe), people can twist and warp religion for personal and political gain

• metafiction - jack’s delusion of being jesus

  • characters perception of reality VS actual reality

  • difficult to understand the actual reality within the play

• irony and satire - play is self aware of the fact that it is a play

  • characters comment on their own actions

  • music creates dissonance that highlights the commentary of absurdity of the play

• identity/identity crisis - jack slowly acknowledges his mental state

• unconventional storytelling - can’t stick to one genre, blurring boundaries between reality and fiction