Class Notes—1/19

Modernist vs. Postmodernist Thought

Modernist:

Roots in the Enlightenment, characterized by the strong belief in

--materialistic gains of capitalism

--rational thought and inquiry

--due process of law

--abstract rights and freedoms for all

--the individual as free, self-determining, reflective, and the center of activity

--strong belief that science and the social science disciplines will free us from superstition

Postmodernist:

Emerged in French thinking in the 1960s and 70s

1984—publication of The Postmodern Condition by Lyotard

“Let us wage war on totality.”

Characterized by a distrust of metanarratives:

--entrenched bureaucracies, monopolies

--manipulative advertisement industry

--dominant, totalizing discourses

--whole ideology of legal apparatus and the notion of the “reasonable man” in law

--ideology of the individual

Instead of the idea of a self-determining, free individual, people are socially constructed at the nexus of over-determined discourses.

Notions of center, privileged reference points (like Truth, or Justice), fixed subjects, first principles, origin must be abandoned as they are really controlling metanarratives that undergird and sustain the hegemony of the dominant culture.

Paradigm Shift
The move from modernist thought to postmodernist thought is a paradigm shift. The key validity claims of modernist thought—which include a closed universe approachable through objective scientific methods of inquiry—were disrupted by the findings of chaos theory, quantum mechanics, Nietzschean rather than Hegelian philosophy, etc.

1980s and 90s: Postmodern thinking radiates out to cultural production in the mainstream, including the cultural production of children’s picture books.

Modernist texts (picture books)

--tend to have linear narratives:

            begin with stasis/idyllic situation

            crisis/conflict

            subject adapts, takes on a new role that fits him/her snugly into the Symbolic Order, aberrant desires are contained (Where the Wild Things Are, for instance)

            stasis returns

--Symbolic order presented in the books tends toward patriarchal values: order, white, heterosexual hegemony, see the values of modernist thought above

--artwork may be slightly ironic, but more often reflects organic totality—it does what you expect it to do in supporting the text

Postmodern picture books

--challenge linearity, especially at the level of closure, or the adaptation of the subject to the Symbolic order

            metafiction (The Three Pigs (Weisner), Willy the Dreamer)

            open-ended, multiple narratives (Black and White)

            break traditional patterns (King and King, Cinder Edna, The Frog Prince Continued)

            suggest flaws in Symbolic Order as we know it (Martin’s Big Words)

            suggest a pastiche form of subjectivity and development, rather than an organic model (Harlem, Smokey Night, A Bad Case of Stripes)

            Suggest that the world might adapt to the subject, rather than the subject adapting to the world (Weslandia, How Smudge Came)

            Give alternate perspectives on traditional stories (The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Big Ugly Monster and the Little Rabbit, Jitterbug Jam)

            Parody traditional narrative forms and perspectives (Arlene Sardine)

            Attempt synesthetic experiences (Snow Music, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps)

--challenge homogeneity and the notion of an organic individual

--challenge the idea that stories are natural and ineffable (metafiction)

--artwork tends to be more playful