Kevin Burton Smith wrote:
What do you mean exactly when you say post-modern, anyway?
When did it start? Is there a clear date?
You often slam things for being post-modern, but I'm
not sure what you mean by it most of the time.
**************** The postmodern movement began around 1969.
Eagleton cited that date and I've seen several other
references to it. It's a form of extreme scepticism coupled
with sophistry. In literature postmodernism generally gives
literary realism a thumbs down on the basis that it is
deceptive and false, so a pomo fiction writer is very likely
to interject himself into the story and ad lib on just about
any subject in order to remind you that it is, after all,
just a story. In In the Hand of Dante the author chose to
talk about how much he made on his writing and financial
arbitrations with the publisher. In The Things They Carried
O'Brien included comments on the truth or fictive nature of
his stories. As some others have pointed out, many authors
did this before realism became popular.
Common also in pomo fiction is a stout disregard for the
narrative process. Scenes are disjointed. Characters come and
go with little or no explanation on their bearing on the
text, with none of it resolving itself out in the end. A pomo
mystery is likely to remain a mystery at the end, like in
Barnes's Arthur and George. Real conclusions are
oh-so-no-pomo. If there is a conclusion, they are likely to
offer an alternative ending, as in The French Lieutenant's
Woman.
Pomo dislikes cause-and-effect, too. If the criminal takes a
beating at the end, it probably will have little to do with
the crime they committed. Absurd events occur that strain
credibility. Ray kills indiscriminately in Barry Hannah's Ray
with nary a glitch.
Pomo doesn't like causes so you're not likely to get any
heroes, tarnished or otherwise. In order to not come off like
they are backing some purpose as worthwhile, pomo authors
generally have their characters wandering around doing not
much of anything, and God forbid any good come of their
actions.
I have posted all the above in better detail in past posts,
but I'm not much on searching the archives so I wouldn't want
to point you in that direction either.
As far as your aversion to reading books about reading books,
that is cool. But there is no reading without criticism.
None.
miker
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