Kurt Vonnegut The Concept Of Postmodernism - 1598 Words

French philosopher Jean-Franà §ois Lyotard once said, â€Å"Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives.† Through his statement, he endeavored to associate a theory to the shifting concept of postmodernism; to synopsize different events, experiences, and phenomena in history through a universal appeal to truth. While his supposition, through equation with the poems of Kurt Vonnegut, Charles Olsen, or John Cage - does indeed seem to hold validity; to define postmodernism remains difficult. To define this era would be to violate the premise of the postmodernist that no absolute or definite terms, boundaries, or truths exist to do so. However, we can rest assured that all postmodernists do believe absolute†¦show more content†¦Chiefly, of first-most importance, Kurt Vonnegut’s â€Å"Untitled,† primarily reflects the postmodern-characteristic theme of division in the 21st society through the examination of gender rol es through humor and irony. Humour and irony are characteristic themes of the postmodern era due to how the treatment of non-humorous subjects (including World War Two or the Cold War) from a distanced stance of no connection is invoked. Through this position, they choose to depict their histories both ironically and humorously, highly reminiscent of the definition sparked by Lyotard. Gender roles are examined through humor and irony in Vonnegut’s poem when stated, â€Å"They wonder at a father/Who is sad and funny strong,/And they wonder at a mother/Like a childhood song† (lines 7-10). In this excerpt, we can clearly see humour in the â€Å"Two little good girls† (line 1) observed stereotype of the father, not only in the girls’initial propensity toâ€Å"wonder† (lines 7, 9) (humorous in equating them to be great thinkers), but also through the usage ofâ€Å"funny strong† (line 8) to serve as a sort of oxymoron, ironic in the sense that bot h words directly contradict each other (as the word funny does not necessarily describe the word strongly). Vonnegut also uses humorShow MoreRelatedSlaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut Essay821 Words   |  4 PagesIn an interview on Slaughterhouse Five, Kurt Vonnegut states, â€Å"I worked as a miner of corpses, breaking into cellars where over a hundred thousand Hansel and Gretels were baked like gingerbread men† (â€Å"Vonnegut†). Vonnegut Jr. (1922-2007), born during the Modern Age, wrote his first story in 1947, known as the Contemporary Period. The Modern Age was different from the Contemporary Period because of its focus on art while trying to connect with traditions in the world due to their desire to have aRead More Postmodernist Features in Vonneguts Cats Cradle2907 Words   |  12 PagesIhab Hassans essay Toward a Concept of Postmodernism was used as a source of secondary literature for defining of postmodernist features. The most visible and prevalent features are postmodernist metonymy, treatment of the character, dynamic tension, anarchy and a postmodernist look at religion as a whole. To put Vonneguts Cradle into a definite time span, let me start with a bit of personal data about the author. Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. was born on NovemberRead MorePostmodernism in Literature5514 Words   |  23 Pagesreaction against Enlightenment ideas implicit in Modernist literature. Postmodern literature, like postmodernism as a whole, is difficult to define and there is little agreement on the exact characteristics, scope, and importance of postmodern literature. However, unifying features often coincide with Jean-Franà §ois Lyotards concept of the meta-narrative and little narrative, Jacques Derridas concept of play, and Jean Baudrillards simulacra. For example, instead of the modernist quest for meaningRead MoreFeatures of Metafiction and Well Known Writers of the Genre Essay3025 Words   |  13 Pagespresent this world using narrative techniques (or artistic techniques)† (Thaninayagam 12). Historiographic metafiction is an offshoot of postmodern art form. The term historiographic metafiction was coined by Linda Hutcheon in her book A Poetics of Postmodernism : History, Theory, Fiction. According to Linda, historiographic metafictions are â€Å"those well-known and popular novels which are both intensely self-reflective and yet paradoxically also lay claim to historical events and personages† (5). HistoriographicRead MoreEssay about Features of Post Modern Fictions2385 Words   |  10 Pagessituation (emphasizing reading rather than the writing). Practice of postmodernism in novels and other literary fields has almost become an international phenomenon. As A.S.D. Pillai argues: Post-modernism is the term used in literary parlance to refer to a corpus of literature that has been written in the mid-fifties, sixties and after, largely in America, and to a lesser extent in Latin America, Europe and Britain. Postmodernism is thus an international literary phenomenon, in the first place, that