Whatzpomo: The Classics Comics Version
Gordon Fitch
before you can say what postmodernism might be, you have to have
some idea of the meaning of _modernism_. _Modernism_ refers to
a set of styles and theories that first appeared in the early
part of the 20th century. If you do not know what modernism is,
look it up. Or go down to the mall and look at the difference
between the Van Gogh and Picasso repros.
By the 1950s, art and music which would have been considered
wildly radical sixty years before had become conservative, at
least within the academic and intellectual realms, and rather
pervasive. Large buildings were constructed virtually without
ornament and almost entirely in right angles, for example.
Certain of the attributes of the modern style are: lack of
overt reference to the past; cleanness of line; abstraction or
non-objectivity; "flatness" or denial of illusion; avoidance of
narrative. Politically, the once left-wing movement had
acquired a rightist or at least centrist tinge; the aloofness
of the style, and its unpopularity, rendered it agreeable to the
"End of Ideology" ideology, that is, the elite celebration of
the permanent triumph of liberal bourgeois capitalism. (Some
things never change....)
Such a restrictive canon, of course, must produce rebels and
outlaws. Some of the more notorious outbursts occurred in
California; I refer to the beats and, later, the hippies. In
Europe as well, critics and cultural commentators, restive under
the modernistic elites, were looking for trouble. So, by the
mid-1960's, you have a number of currents in art, music, culture
in general, and politics, which did not fit into the world that
modernism had constructed. All of these may be referred to as
"postmodern." As with dissidence generally, these currents are
not easily collected into a single definition or go in a single
direction.
However, in the forty or so years since the revolt against
modernism began, postmodernism has started to become a thing, a
style, a canon. Hashing up historical styles and pasting them
on one's work, once a rebellion against modernism's lack of
reference, has become _de_rigueur_ for some people, especially
architects. That is why, when you see a pyramid on the roof of
the building, you know it's postmodern. Just so, the many
authors who derided the cultural monotheism -- the
authoritarianism -- of the Western White Boys have themselves
become, ahem, _required_ reading, buried in the graveyards of
Academia. Thus, people can say knowingly that postmodernism
is "dead", along with modernism, art, culture, and God.
However, postmodernism may never solidify enough to become a
respectable mummy. Unity of style depends upon unity of value
(so that people who do things one way get funded, and the
others don't, and the former predominate). Unity of value
depends on political unity, usually founded on the supremacy
of a person, family, or coherent class in a community. Most
lately, it has been the bourgeoisie who decided what was art
and what wasn't. But if the bourgeoisie is losing its grip,
then we can expect to see a diffusion of styles which depend
on acceptance by a fraction of the general population for
support -- in other words, "cults" as in "cult" movies. Some
of these styles have already appeared: in painting, for
example, we have graffiti, serious comic book art, and van
painting, among others, all of which have distinct, rigorous
graphic styles not in any way dependent on "high" art. New
music, both popular and elite, occurs in an increasing variety
of disparate styles. Oddly, the type of music often called
"postmodern" isn't particularly postmodern; the popular form
which shows the most postmodernity is rap.
And now, stand by for the next posting, which will demonstrate
that this one is childishly absurd and will quote at least
four authors you not only haven't read, but have never heard
of, all with references to _Eraserhead_, which you need to see
as soon as possible.
--
Gordon Fitch * uunet!cmcl2.nyu.edu!panix!mydog!gcf
Bx 1238 Bowling Green Station / NYC 10274
"... a master of disingenuous subtlety." -P.McGuinness
Robert Hooker
writes:
> Some of the more notorious outbursts occurred in
> California; I refer to the beats and, later, the hippies. In
> Europe as well, critics and cultural commentators, restive under
> the modernistic elites, were looking for trouble. So, by the
> mid-1960's, you have a number of currents in art, music, culture
> in general, and politics, which did not fit into the world that
> modernism had constructed. All of these may be referred to as
> "postmodern."
I have never heard of the hippies and the beats being referred to as pomo,
in fact the entire free love free thought movement was so structured by
the basic values of the culture it was standing against (the individual
and his right to pursue life liberty and happiness) it is very hard to
think of it in any context other then the modern.
Modernism came before the 20th century and has it's roots much deeper then
that. Bauhaus architecture was very modern but it was not the cause of
the modern. Politically the modern is based on the right of the
individual and a constant fear of the power of the state going back to
American Revolution. Philosophy of the modern is Nietzche. Freud and
Watson developed the argument about humanity which would structure the
"modern concept" of man.
Pomo is not simply a rejection of negative features of the modern, in fact
such resistance to the state and desire for freedom is very modern.
So what is pomo?
Modernity produced a number of factors which would lead to it's own down
fall;
1. Mass Media producing a mass culture
2. Electronic technology which allowed for a much greater degree of
innovation within the mass culture.
3. Growing need for consumer spending in a culture unable to find large
enough markets oversea after WW2 leads to stress on consumption rather
then production-result being selling and convincing (being cool) becomes
more important then being right.
Sadly Pomo is not something that cool people get and unsmart people don't
get, pomo is a trend going on in society that we are all involved in. New
technology , economic and social conditions are radically changing social
fabric around us. In the 60s the lines were more clear, as Jack said in
"Easy Rider" the hippies were living the American dream.
In postmodern the dream is changing; will it become a nightmare.
Reagan is as pomo as MTV, Pomo may lead to a more human and livable world
which stresses human factors or it may become the ultimate controlled
society.
My problem with this group is that over all the dialogue (like me right
now) is pre-modern academic old style discourse- light years behind. Alt.
postmodern may in fact be the least postmodern net.
Someone posted a article with references, it seems to me the pomo is
based on the growth of a information class from outlaw to new ruling
class, this information class is more concerned with hypertext and free
software and has little concern with sighting of sources.
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Signatures are for assholes
Bob===================