Debil Postmoderns Cyberpunk
David Stein
Debil has been used to hearing the word "postmodernism" as an insult
or as a warning that incomprehensible sentences are soon to follow.
Thus he noted with interest a quotation on a Pantheon (a bunch of
auto-bio-info sheets hanging on a wall) entry of one of his co-workers
at a job in which he slaves away playing videogames all Summer long.
The quotation was from Umberto Eco:
I think of the postmodern attitude as that of a man who loves
a very cultivated woman and knows he cannot say to her, "I love
you madly." because he knows that she knows (and that she knows
that he knows) that these words have already been written by
Barbara Cartland. Still, there is a solution. He can say,
"As Barbara Cartland would put it, I love you madly". At this
point, having avoided false innocence, having said clearly that
it is no longer possible to speak innocently, he will nevertheless
have said what he wanted to say to the woman: that he loves her,
but he loves her in an age of lost innocence. If the woman goes
along with this, she will have received a declaration of love
all he same. Neither of the two speakers will feel innocent,
both will have accepted the challenge of the past, of the
already said, which cannot be eliminated, both will consciously
and with pleasure play the game of irony.... But both will have
succeeded, once again, in speaking of love. [1]
As you can see, though the quotation is long, it is nevertheless
understandable, and, what's more, makes sense. So Debil carefully
queried the co-worker and the next day obtained a copy of
What is Post-Modernism?
=======================
written by Charles Jencks [0]. It is a small pamphlet of only 48 pages but
lots of photographs and illustrations.
Jencks's field is Architecture, and it is here that Jencks's description
of Post-Modernism (note the spelling) is the most clear and satisfying.
But Jencks does attempt a general definition of Post-Modernism in arts,
including Literature. In his opinion the central trait of Post-Modernism
is what he terms "double coding":
Double coding to simplify means both elite/popular and new/old
and there are compelling reasons for these opposite pairings.
Today's Post-Modern architects were trained by Modernists, and
are committed to using contemporary technology as well as facing
social reality. These commitments are enough to distinguish
them from revivalists or traditionalists, a point worth stressing
since it creates their hybrid language, the style of Post-Modern
architecture. The same is not completely true of Post-Modern
artists and writers who may use traditional techniques of
narrative and representation in a more straightforward way.
Yet all the creators who could be called Post-Modern keep
something of a Modern sensibility - some intention which
distinguishes their work from that of revivalists - whether
this is irony, parody, displacement, complexity, eclecticism,
realism or any number of contemporary tactics and goals.
As I mention in the foreword, Post-Modernism has the essential
double meaning: the continuation of Modernism and its transcendence.
So it seems Post-Modernism attempts to communicate in a positive way with
the public without necessarily lowering its artistic standards. Just
like Bugs Bunny may be enjoyed by both adults and children, Post-Modernism
tries to work on both high/low level. Further, where Modernism may seek
to break with the past, Post-Modernism respects it and tries to incorporate
it into its design--without, again, ignoring the present.
Just as Jencks does not claim that Post-Modernist techniques are uniform
in arts, neither does he claim that his definition is one generally agreed
upon. He does claim, however, that Post-Modernism is often defined to mean
"almost everything and thus nearly nothing" (--he cites "The Anti-Aesthetic:
Essays on Postmodern Culture" as an example). Further, he argues that
what is often called Post-Modern could be much more succinctly described
as Late-Modern--"the continuation of Modernism in its ultra or exaggerated
form".
Others prominent in the theory of Post-Modernism, like I. Hassan and
F. Lyotard, and probably J. Baudrillard and F. Jameson, might disagree with
Jenkcs's definition. Whatever the case, however, Debil found Jencks's
definition useful because he saw how it relates to the many examples
from architecture and visual arts in the book. Debil could *see* why the
Neue Staatsgalerie extensions, in Stuttgart, are Post-Modern, while
the Pompidou Centre, Paris, is not.
By restricting his definition, Jencks was able to explain Post-Modernism
in architecture so that even Debil can now recognize it as well as he can
recognize, say, the Gothic or the Baroque.
Why would Post-Modernism make itself most evident in architecture?
It is here that the break in communication between elite and popular
art has most painful consequences. People, after all, have to
live in the buildings designed for them. To cite Jencks:
The `death' of Modern architecture and its ideology of progress
which offered technical solutions to social problems was seen
by everyone in a vivid way.
While the failure of Modernism may not be as vivid in Literature
as in Architecture, the break between popular and elite culture
seems evident here as well. To cite J. Barth:
My ideal postmodernist author neither merely repudiates
nor merely imitates either his twentieth-century
modernist parents or his nineteenth-century premodernist
grandparents. He has the first half of our century under
his belt, but not on his back. Without lapsing into moral
or artistic simplism, shoddy craftmanship, Madison Avenue
venality, or either false or real naivete, he nevertheless
aspires to a fiction more democratic in its appeal that
such late-modernist marvels (by my definition and in my
judgment) as Beckett's _Stories and Texts for Nothing_
or Nabakov's _Pale Fire_. He may not hope to reach and move
the devotees of James Mitchener and Irving Wallace--not
to mention the lobotomized mass-media illiterates. But
he should hope to reach and delight, at least part of
the time, beyond the circle of what Mann used to call
the early Christians: professional devotees of high art.[2]
This and Eco's quote indicate there are some serious attempts
at postmodern literature.
Jencks's book is a delight to read, and I recommend it to anyone
with even the slightest interest in art.
However, there are still some areas, like Literature, where I'm
unsure how Post-Modernism fits in. I did, however, notice some
postmodern elements in certain Cyberpunk works.
So...
My question, then, is whether there are any science fictional
works that may be reasonably termed postmodern. In particular, I
would like to know if there is any connection between Cyberpunk
or _The Movement_ and postmodernism.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
[0] Jencks, Charles: "What is Post-Modernism?"
Academy Editions, London / St. Marti's Press, New York
0-312-86603-8
[1] Eco, Umberto: "Postscript to The Name of the Rose"
Harcourt Brace Jovanich, New York, 1984
[2] Barth, John: "The Literature of Replenishment, Postmodernist Fiction"
_The Atlantic_, January 1980
--
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I'm not a native speaker of English, so I'm not sure what I wrote.
Flames will be ignored unless you post them in perfect Czech.
================================ - David (the metamathician) - ===
Peter Webb
: My question, then, is whether there are any science fictional
: works that may be reasonably termed postmodern. In particular, I
: would like to know if there is any connection between Cyberpunk
: or _The Movement_ and postmodernism.
I'd suggest you read "Storming the Reality Studio," edited by Larry McCaffery.
It begins with an essay on PostModernism in SF and Serious Literature and
continues with many excerpts from PostModern works. I don't have the book
at work, so I can't post the ISBN or publisher.
Peter Webb (pw...@hks.com)