/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1384311]

sup /lit/

Noob literaturefag here.

Don't rage, but I have to ask: What the fuck is modernism and postmodernism, and what is the difference? I have a very vague understanding from people throwing the word around, but that's about it.

Pic related; books /lit/ told me to read.

[Anonymous No.1384333]

Modernism and post-modernism are two very, very broad terms. Basically, they refer to two different movements which took place across the arts. Modernism was a response to what were seen as dramatically new conditions of life - the rise of new technology and new political conditions. It focused on the importance of novelty, and a revolt against the then-existing forms and conventions. Post-modernism was essentially a response to modernism which revolted against ALL kinds of conventions, any kind of notion of objective truth or standards, any kind of significant narrative.

Of course, it's a lot more complicated than that.

[Anonymous No.1384357]

modernism= right angles

post-modernism= chaos and blobs

[Anonymous No.1384385]

>>1384333
What about time periods? Isn't most postmodern literature after WWII or something?

[Anonymous No.1384390]

>>1384385
that is rather too complicated for my summary because it gets into the way in which each movement is at the same time a response to historical events, to economic / social conditions, and to the art movements which came before them

but yeah, there are important ways in which both modernism and post-modernism are influenced by historical events

[Anonymous No.1384391]

>>1384333

>>1384385

This is it in a nutshell, we could go on and on but modernism basically arose at the beginning of the 20th century (there is argument over the exact time, however, since it was so recent) and lasted until about the seventies or so (the end of modernism is also heavily debated) and post-modernism arose after, as both a response to modernism and an assault on conventions. Be careful about the term "post-modernism"; we are living in this period and so it is impossible to properly define it (unlike romanticism, for example, which has a definite beginning, ending and some very representative works that nearly all scholars agree upon).

Also, be careful of art elitists, the types who are sophmores in college and randomly scribble on a canvas and try to call it "art" akin to Picasso.

[Anonymous No.1384405]

example of modernist authors: James Joyce, Malcolm Lowry, Franz Kafka
example of post-modernist authors: Thomas Pynchon, William S. Burroughs

[Anonymous No.1384418]

>>Also, be careful of art elitists, the types who are sophmores in college and randomly scribble on a canvas and try to call it "art" akin to Picasso

How is the term 'art elitist' anything more than one who values superior intellectual art? Or are you implying that post-modernism is so fucked that the majority of intellectual artists now are like the people you described?

[Anonymous No.1384422]

It's like modernism is Spiderman and postmodernism is the mutant black-goo Spiderman that's basically the evil version of Spiderman that just does all sorts of crazy stuff. It's more complicated than that though.

[Anonymous No.1384427]

>>1384391
>scribbles on a canvas
>art akin to Picasso
>MON VISAGE

[Anonymous No.1384461]

>>1384418
i think hes saying people on the internet will act smarter then they are and bullshit esp. about intellectual subjects like pomo

[Anonymous No.1384480]

>>1384418

I should have been clearer; I was using the word "elitist" in a purposefully pejorative way, such as when someone might say that "a hipster is a snobbish music elitist and thinks that only listening to demo tapes makes them knowledgeable about good music".