The exhibition in Trieste about Postmodernism will give the possibility to explore the contemporary cultural movement. It’s a conceptual and abstract retrospective, different from traditional art exhibitions. It covers all the European production of 19^th  century.

In Postmodernism, against Modernism,  authority concept is discussed, it’s questioned the idea of author, there isn’t any distinction about low and high art: both come together in what Postmodern art calls “artistic production”. The position of the reader has the principal position, because it’s the reader who makes sense to what he reads to literature, to what he sees to art, to what he listens to music.

This also implies  calling into question the concept of the definite and truth, because the Postmodernist dogma is “it’s not true”. All contemporary scientific studies demonstrates that the only truth is transformation, so that west culture certainties are disappointed.

The main effect on literature is  that there isn’t a stable meaning to give to words. Each word has always different meaning according to what, where and when the reader thinks about them. The meaning depends on his tastes, experiences, way of thinking…

During Sixties the philosopher Vattimo works out the idea of “Pensiero debole”, where he debates the idea of truth. In the past, till Industrial Revolution (where man improved his situation) God and Church were this “truth”.  Modernism (1910-1930) anticipates Postmodernism.  

The extract on the photocopy is taken from a Postmodernist novel “Nice work” by David Lodge. Lodge, one of the most important Postmodernist writers,  is a free-lance novelist and published the novel in 1992. “Nice work” has two main characters: Vic, a man who is a director of a big company and Robyn, a woman who is a semiotic teacher. They share a project (shadow project) that implies the meeting between job world and culture world.   

All the extract is about the characterization of female character: though her way of thinking is disclosed Postmodernist way of thinking. For building the character the writer uses a literary analysis, and he puts Robyn in contrast with Vic  (very different characters). The narration assumes Robyn’s point of view (she doesn’t believe in “character’s” concept). The first information about Robyn is linked to her beliefs.

The name’s choice for the characters has a symbolical meaning: Robyn is a male name and reminds to Robin Hood, a hero that stole to rich people to give to poor people revealing her idealistic convictions. On the contrary her surname, Penrose, is a female name. Vic is short for “victory”.

Also her position should be underlined: she is a “temporary” teacher, in a not-existing University (because Rummidge doesn’t exist in reality). 

Robyn doesn’t believe in the concept of “character”, she holds that “character is a bourgeois myth” and “character”, being the product of a capitalistic vision of the world, is just an illusion.

The literary concept of character rises on 18th century, as well as genre of novel, that is when Capitalism grows. Archetype of traditional novel is “Robinson Crusoe”: written on 18^th century is about the self-made man parable. Capitalistic ideology supports the ideal of self-made man. During 19^th century Capitalism and novel (as literary genre) reached the greatest success, till Modernism and Postmodernism period, when the crisis of Capitalism coincided with deconstruction of traditional novel.