Postmodern Lit Flashcards
(21 cards)
Post Modern Lit Definition
Post-WWII era
Reaction against Enlightenment and Modernist literature
Rejects definition as a “movement”
Post Modern Common Techniques
1.Fragmentation
2.Paradox
3.Questionable narrators, contradictory perspectives, ambiguous endings
4.Unconventional typography/punctuation/syntax to challenge traditional literary conventions
Post Modern Characteristics
1.Irony
2.Playfulness
3.Black humor
4.Minimalism
5.Less traditional character development
6.Allusions to other works (literature, philosophy, popular culture, history)
7.Skepticism toward grand narratives
8.Engagement with social and political issues
8.Critiquing ideologies and power structures of contemporary society
Metafiction
Self-consciously addresses its status as narrative
Blurs lines between fiction and reality
Black Mountain Poets (Projectivist Poets)
*A group of mid-20th-century avant-garde/postmodern poets centered on Black Mountain College (North Carolina)
*they were Free of literary convention
*they used Open form, everyday language
Importance of personal experience, direct observation (in their work)
Robert Duncan 1919-1988
Prefers Impersonal, Mythic and Hierarchic
The organic, the irrational and primordial enjoys privilege in his case
Duncan Poems
structure of rhyme, often I am permitted to return to the meadow,
Denis Levertov 1923-1997
British-born American poet
Heavily influenced by the political context of the Vietnam War
Religion is also a major theme of her poetry
Evocative, socially conscious poetry
Denis Levertov Poems
- beyond the end
- the Jacobs Ladder
3.“Stepping Westward”:
4.“Illustrious Ancestors”: - “A Woman Alone”:
Beyond the End
Unconventional punctuation
Its subject is the matter of choice
Addresses the question: Is there something that makes humans more than natural, more than flowers swaying to some stimulus, rooted and planted?
Jacobs Ladder
.Biblical reference to the story of Jacob who dreamt about seeing God’s angels ascending and descending a great ladder reaching from Earth to the heavens
.Speaker observes that the ladder is a stairway of a cut, rosy stone meant both for human steps and those of angels. The stairway is sharp, jagged, and difficult to climb, yet this pain consoles the climber in some way
.The last line suggests that the climber of the stairs is not a mortal but rather the poem itself ascending into the heavens
Stepping Westward
Poem that explores the cyclical and evolving nature of identity
Free verse
Mirrors the speaker’s journey of self-discovery and acceptance, as they embrace their changing perspectives and roles as a woman and an individual
Parallels with the natural rhythms of the seasons and the celestial bodies
Contrasts feminine inconsistency to masculine stability → Nuanced understanding of gender dynamics
The speaker finds contentment in both their strengths and vulnerabilities
Post Modern Poetry
Heir to Radical Modernism: it had further radicalization and decenteralization.
it has diverse traditions
influences: Charles Olson and Ezra Pound
San Francisco Renaissance
Often I permitted to return to a meadow
Robert Duncan :
incantation
physical vs mental
full of duality
circular in form
who gives the permission?
Stepping Werstward
Denis Levertov:
explores the evolving nature of identity
Free Verse
Speaks about the persons journey of self discovery and acceptance, as she is accepting the changing perspectives and roles as a woman and as an individual
parallels with the natural rythms of nature and celestial body
contrasts the feminine changes with maculine stability so it has an understanding about gender dynamics
the speaker finds ease in both their strength and vulnarabilities
Illusterious ancestors
Denis Levertov
Speaker wants to craft poem as simple and as strong to what their ancestors making
Rav of Eastern Russia and Jones of Mold
A woman Alone
Denis Levertov
Explores themes of Solitude and Self Discovery
Reflects on her past relationships and freedom she gained as a single person
Imagines herself as a warrior in her old age who watches the world and wonders its cities and nature, however she knows that this is not possible
Charles Olson
Second generation American Poet
the link between modernism and post modernism (Link between figures such as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams)
Olsons poems
I, Maximus of Gloucester, to You
Maximus, to himself
Sapho Back
Variations Done for Gerald Van De Wiele
Essay: Projective Verse
