Prepared by Raizza Corpuz

Postmodernism• A general and wide-ranging term

which is applied to literature, art, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and cultural and literary criticism, among others. • a reaction to the assumed certainty of

scientific, or objective, efforts to explain reality

"post"

• because it is denies the existence of any ultimate principles, and it lacks the optimism of there being a scientific, philosophical, or religious truth which will explain everything for everybody - a characteristic of the so-called "modern" mind.

The paradox of the postmodern position is that

• in placing all principles under the scrutiny of its skepticism, it must realize that even its own principles are not beyond questioning

• Postmodernism is both a historical, chronological notion and a philosophical ideology.

• postmodernism is primarily a reinterpretation of what knowledge is and what counts as knowledge.

• it represents a form of cultural relativism about such things as reality, truth, reason, value, linguistic meaning, the self, and other notions

• On a postmodernist view there is no such thing as objective reality, truth, value, reason and so forth.

• All these are social constructions, creations of linguistic practices and, as such, are relative not to individuals but to social groups that share a narrative.

Postmodern, Postmodernism, Postmodernity

• Postmodern: a generic term that can be used to refer either to postmodernism or postmodernity

• Postmodernity: a term that refers to the historical period after modernity, as more specifically seen in the sequence: prehistory, ancient times, medieval period, modernity, and postmodernity.

Postmodern, Postmodernism, Postmodernity

• Postmodernism: a term that refers to a self-conscious cultural movement that reacted against the principles and ideals of the modernist movements in literature, art, architecture, film, philosophy, etc.

Postmodernity• is a historical period that spans less than

century, starting from the second half of the 20th century and persisting up to the present

• there are a number of historical events in postmodernity that gave the period its distinctive outlook and way of life.

4 Groups according to Demeterio III

1. events consists of the transformation of the original capitalism into multinational and consumer capitalism, and the harnessing of nuclear energy.

2. the proliferation of the mass media, the development of the electronic technology, and the establishment of the global network of the world wide web. These resulted to the rapid and continuous interchange of information, knowledge and culture, that subsequently created postmodernity’s global village phenomenon.

3. consists of the transcontinental air transit, multiculturalism. These brought about the collapse of cultural and national boundaries, that did not only reinforced the global village phenomenon but also contrasted sharply with modernity’s faith and belief on the nation state as well as its fervent nationalism.

4. consists of the emergence and proliferation of advocacy movements, such as feminism, environmentalism, gay rights, and anti-war activisms. These mark postmodernity’s reaction against the hegemonies of patriarchy, of science and technology, and of other forms of totalitarianism.

Michel Foucault(1926-1984)

• The French philosopher, historian, psychologist, political and gay activist

• Foucault’s critique of the modernity’s compulsion for the control, normalization, and standardization of the human subject stems from his observation on how the ruling classes’ values and cultures have stifled the ways of life of the marginalized people, such as the workers, the poor, the homosexual, the colored, and those who are in prison

• Foucault demonstrated that knowledge is never objective, reliable, and neutral, but is something generated in accordance to the desires of the powerful, only to be used as a tool for the domination and subjugation of the less powerful.

• With this dictum he meant that a person who possesses knowledge possesses power over nature and over other persons.

• Foucault modifies Bacon’s dictum by stressing that knowledge and power are never separate. The quest for knowledge is already motivated by a quest for power.

Baudrillard.Baudrillard.

Baudrillard

• set to unveil some of postmodernity’s darker sides.

• Baudrillard focuses his critique on postmodernity’s obsession for consumption

• the main reason why the postmodern person has become an insatiable consumer is the fact that he/she has transformed from a consumer of goods into a consumer of signs.

• For example, a man who buys an expensive watch is not merely buying a useful time-telling device, but more so a prestige symbol that is inscribed on the expensive watch. Such a prestige symbol will make the man feel good and powerful, specially when he compares himself with the other people around him whose watches happen to be cheaper.

• The frugal modern person consumes goods, but the extravagant postmodern person consumes signs.

• goods are not anymore consumed mainly for their values and utilities. Rather, they are consumed for their prestige symbol.

• Thus, they are no longer goods as such, but signs of prestige

Simulacra and Simulation• In the book,

Baudrillard explains the trend of cultural materialism in our current society that has created subcultures and materialistic trends such as fashion, that have no actuality behind them.

• They are purposeless and have engulfed in many different ways our society and everyone in it.

Interpretation Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra – An image or representation, an unreal or vague semblance.

Simulation - The act or process of simulating, an imitation; a sham, assumption of a false appearance, imitation or representation, as of a potential situation or in experimental testing.

• This materialism has led to apathy for the real issues in the world, and reality itself has faded from sight.

• As mentioned before, victims of the 9/11 were comparing the event to a film rather than real life events.

• This book explains how through simulation, simulacra's become real, leading to a culture built on nothingness and how real information is distorted.

• Baudrillard calls the world of the spectacular images hyper-reality

• An image becomes hyper-real when postmodern people considers it even more real than the real.

• For instance, when the photo-spread of a lady in swimwear, which is a technologically created image, becomes the standard against which actual ladies in swimwear are judged and evaluated.

Jean-Froncois Lyotard

Lyotard’s Philosophical Stance• First, knowledge has ceased to be a human

value in itself and has become a commodity to be stored, sold, and utilized for the pursuit of some other ends, such as quest for power.

• Second, the postmodern world has become more and more tolerant to the proliferation of competing knowledges

• Third, the postmodern world has become suspicious towards knowledges that claim the status of a meta-narrative or grand narrative.

• This commodification of knowledge, Lyotard predicts, will have an astounding impact on education.

• In the near future, education as we know it, where the youth is systematically immersed in the tradition of humanistic knowledge, will give way to a more economical and more pragmatic piecemeal education, where adults are trained with modules for whatever specific information they need for their specific jobs.

• Lyotard notes that in the postmodern world, knowledge is no longer pursued for its own sake, but is generated and exchanged just like any other commodity

• Bodies of knowledge that cannot be commodified are gradually abandoned.

• Truth is no longer the supreme criteria of knowledge, but utility and marketability.

Derrida• theory of language as well as with his critical

methodology • Derrida’s theory of language dismantles the

then dominant structuralist theory that neatly claims that a word, or a sign, is made up of a signifier (such as the word cat) and a signified (such as the mental concept of a cat)

• For Derrida, a word, or a sign, does not connect us to the secure and solid ground of the thing being referred to.

• Words, or signs, therefore, are not stable, but are like a shifting terrain, or a flickering candlelight, or a set of footprints on a sandy beach.

• Behind each word, or sign, is not a tangible thing being referred to, but traces of other signs, some of which are present while others are absent.

• Derrida’s theory of language is the basis of his more famous critical methodology, the deconstruction

Deconstruction• is a method of dissecting a text in order to

unearth its deep-seated contradictions, inconsistencies, and ambivalence.

• It is a method of showing how a text fails from its very own internal criteria.