Postmodernism || Literature in the Postmodern Period || Chapter VII

Chapter VII

Literature in the Postmodern Period

Postmodernism is a way of thinking that challenges traditional or modern ideas about art, architecture, and literature. The idea of postmodernism emerged as a reaction to modernism, which was characterized by its emphasis on rationality, progress, and universal truths. Postmodernists rejected these ideas, arguing that there is no single, objective reality, and that all knowledge is constructed through language and culture.

Postmodern literature is diverse and experimental, exploring many different subjects and themes. It often challenges traditional notions of what literature is and can be. In the postmodern era, English literature became more globalized, with writers from all over the world using English to reach a wider audience. This led to a radical change in literary trends and perception in the second half of the 21st century. Jacques Derrida, Michel Foucault, Jean Baudrillard, and Jean-François Lyotard are some of the key figures associated with the development of postmodernism.

Features of Postmodern Literature

1. Plurality in meaning

2. Exposing the internal realities in the writings

3. Focus on the temporality and temporal beauty of the text

4. Questioning established narratives and literature

5. A tapestry of different literary trends and movements

6. Use of Stream of Consciousness or Flashback techniques to dismantle the chronological orientation of texts

7. Exploring multicultural themes and perspectives

8. Incorporating elements of popular culture

9. Experimentation and innovation in literature

Representative Literary Figures of Postmodernism

a. Philip Larkin

Larkin is the great poet with the flavor of passivism in his poems. He wrote many popular poems like ‘Church Going’, and ‘The Whitsun Weddings’.

b. Ted Hughes

Ted Hughes is famous pictorial poet who focused on high level of imagination and human freedom. ‘Jaguar’ and ‘The Hawk in the Rain’ are his important poems.

c. William Golding

Golding is a successful novelist who wrote the allegorical novel ‘Lord of the Flies’ in 1954.

d. V.S. Naipaul

Naipaul is a Trinidadian Postmodern writer who writes the conditions of the subalterns in his writings. He won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. His famous works are ‘A House for Mr. Biswas, ‘The Mimic Men’, ‘An Area of Darkness’ and ‘India: A Wounded Civilization’.