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Post modernism
definition |
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What is a post modernism definition? Postmodernism
is an attempt to rethink the cultural landscape with theories
taken from linguistics, psychiatry, continental philosophy,
and left-wing politics. Postmodernist
poetry tends to be a cotery art – fragmentary, solipsist
and provisional, opposed to the 'great themes of art' and
indeed to saying anything definite. There probably is no post
modernism definition per se: anything goes. Contemporary poetry
may be visually
attentive, apocalytic,
tender,
romantic,
confessional,
or whatever
it pleases. |
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Postmodernist techniques |
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To
many readers, Postmodernist poetry is not poetry at all,
and they are not to be persuaded by any post modernism definition.
Yet its styles are simple and indeed enjoy a distinguished
ancestry. Cultivation of inward states of mind is a
Symbolist legacy. Imagery drawn
from a contemporary, sometimes tawdry urban, setting derives
from Modernism. Ezra
Pound's Cantos replaced stanzas with rhythmic phrasing.
William
Carlos William's poems ('chopped up prose') employed
everyday language, breaking lines arbitrarily for unusual
effects. The Black
Mountain School phrased their lines on a natural tendency
to draw breath. Concrete poetry and experimental layouts
go back to Apollinaire's
Calligrammes. And so on: Postmodernism
is perhaps only a step towards a more consumerist and proletarian
view of the world.
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Postmodernist themes |
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As is shown more clearly in the visual arts, Postmodernism
is iconoclastic, groundless, formless and populist. What
does that mean? An introduction to John
Ashbery and J.H.
Prynne is given in PoetryMagic's Advanced
section, but you'll need to consult the PoetryMagic
Professional section for argued theory with references.
Of course, you may prefer to simply read the poetry, which
you'll find in the periodicals and newspapers listed under
the Book News sidebox. Though classified simply as
contemporary, you'll find many of the poems in Electronic
Poetry Review, Academy
of American Poets, Light
and Dust Anthology or the magazines listed by PoetryKit
and The
PoetryMachine exhibit Postmodernist techniques, even if
their content can be fairly traditional. |
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Books on postmodernism & poetry |
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Post
modernism definitions and contemporary literary theory don't
always make for easy or convincing reading, but good places
to start are: B. Bergonzi's Exploding English: Criticism,
Theory, Culture (1990), C. Belsey's Critical Practice
(1980), W.V. Harris's Literary Meaning: Reclaiming the
Study of Literature, J. Sturrock's Structuralism
and Since: From Lévi-Strauss to Derrida (1984),
R. Seldon's The Cambridge History of Literary Criticism
Vol 8 (1995), and John
Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism.
For the poetry try: A History of Modern Poetry Vol 2
(1987)
by D. Perkins and Contemporary Poetry and Postmodernism:
Dialogue and Estrangement (1996) by I. Gregson. Recent
anthologies are Up Late: American Poetry Since 1970 by
A. Codrescu (1990) and Postmodern American Poetry
by P. Hoover (1994)
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