Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a philosophical movement. The “post” prefix means after but also beyond. So one understands Postmodernism was born after Modernism.

As a matter of fact, Postmodernism started to develop in the late Sixties. During these years the USA was warring in Vietnam. The Western countries were shook by students’ protests and strikes. The traditional concepts of centre and authority were discussed in the Sorbonne and in Berkeley University.

An example of the crumble of these traditional concept can be found in David Lodge’s Nice Work. In Robyn’s presentation, a temporary lecturer, the reader finds out that the second character does not believe in the concept of character. It follows a lecture by Robyn where she explains the reason why she does not believe in character’s concept. The idea of character and fiction were born in England after the Industrial Revolution. So fiction and capitalism have developed together and their birth is due to Puritanism. According to Puritanism, and in general to Christianity, man is in the centre so in fictions of the Nineteenth century the title contains name and surname of the protagonist. The protagonist also reflects the idea of self made man of the bourgeois. With the crisis of capitalism also fiction and traditional concepts entered a period of crisis. As a result the traditional concepts have been discussed in 1968.

At the same time, Jacques Derrida, a post-structuralist philosopher, published Of Grammatology where he explains the principles of deconstruction, premise of Postmodernism. Deconstruction means compare different texts to find out prejudices and contradictions and also means criticize the concepts of truth, certainty and identity.

Another important aspect of Postmodernism introduced by Jacques Derrida is that it is impossible to create something but instead one can only produce. This concept has changed art. An example is the serigraphy of Marilyn Monroe by Andy Warhol. In the work of art, the observer sees four photographs of Marilyn Monroe where only the colours are changed.

Another example of the changes in art production is the Campbell’s Soup Can. A common can of soup can now be a work of art and it is possible because of the mixing of low and high culture. With the compulsory education there is no more a clear division between the elites and the popular culture.

Also literature has changed a lot. Postmodern fictions are characterized by intertextuality and by a game-like attitude. For example in The Hours by Michael Cunningham intertextuality can be found in the connection among the three female characters. The game-like attitude is instead in the structure of the novel. The chapters of the novel are alternated and the only connection is Virginia Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway.