chez Bergery: post-modernism

post-modernism

post-modern sHopping mixing the right ingredients...

I've been interested lately in a cluster of ideas emanating from French philosophers that American critics have adopted and dubbed post-modernism.
Post-modernism seems by definition to be a hodge-podge of cyber-anything with textual analysis (or de-construction), psycho-analysis, marxism and whatever else is left over from the Sixties. Although many of the texts are steeped in impenetrable jargon (sometimes magnified by the Atlantic language barrier) there is something about this loose collage that rings true.
Consider this text from writer Umberto Eco: I think of the post-modern 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 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 the 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. Umberto Eco, postscript to the Name of the Rose
It is difficult to deny that a lost innocence and an acquired irony are cultural facts of the nineties, as evidenced, for example, in the remake mania in cinema, or a movie like Pulp Fiction .
Is there is a philosophical basis for this trend & if so, what is it?


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jabberwocky

Before you jump into post-modernism and get too intimidated by the language, take a moment to check out:

Professor Sokal's home page at NYU

Alan Sokal wrote a parody of the jargon similar to that found in some post-modern articles, his article actually got published in Social Text magazine. Using incredible yet authentic quotes, Sokal's parody deservedly ridicules those who have stretched the linguistic analysis of post-modernism to deny any form external reality and to depict science as "language games".

Check out the article & the reactions ...

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using the net to show post-modernism in action:

The internet, with its hypertext references and mélange of everything but the kitchen sink, is the ultimate post-modern object.

If the net didn't exist, post-modernists would have to invent it, so it's only natural that there should be some attempts to use the net to de-construct post-modern texts. Indeed it's surprising there aren't more.

Michel Foucault Trading Card a cool ironic parody ... post-modern

Derrida de-construction on the net

Deleuze & Guattari Rhiz-omat

Lyotard Auto-differend page

hypertext as a showcase for post-modernism

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a post-modern war?

For me the Gulf War provides a prime example of the post-modern era with its unreal collage of media, technology and geopolitics.

La Guerre du Golfe n'a pas eu Lieu (The Golf War did not occur) by Jean Baudrillard

L'Ecran du Desert (Desert Screen) by Paul Virilio - unfortunately not yet translated into English

Wired: War Is Virtual Hell by Bruce Sterling

Wired: Cyber-Deterrence by James Der Derian

Engulfed by the Vector by McKenzie Wark

Operation Desert Storm & its Media Appropriation by Frédéric Pallez

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Paul Virilio

Virilio examines cities, wars and television to argue convincingly that speed has changed everything.

Paul Virilio resources (web and others)

interview with Paul Virilio

a quote

critique of Paul Virilio's work

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post-modern texts:

G.K. Parish-Philp's excellent list of post-modern links

Hyper in 20th Century Culture by Mikhail Epstein

Epstein elegantly synthesizes our era using quantum mechanics, litterary criticism, existentialism, the sexual revolution and communism. "from super to pseudo". Read it.

post-modern culture

The journal that the above article appeared in. Mostly incomprehensible, sometimes intriguing, sometimes both. Unfortunately, even this rebellious journal has fallen prey to on-line capitalism: now you can only view the current issue -- unless you possess an institutional subscription to MUSE. However you can access all the articles in "text only" format here, which suits me fine.

the spoon collective features discussion on many things including post-modern authors and issues.

introduction to semiotics

Baudrillard on the web

why I'm not a post-modernist

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situationism

Guy Debord's Society of Spectacle

Debord's 20 year-old book has flashes of prophetic aphorisms about our media society intermixed with ageing marxism. There is also a review.

International Situationist magazine, quotes etc...

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about techne

c theory magazine the excellent Canadian journal on media and culture

the economist 95 essays on the internet including the excellent accidental superhighway

MONDO 2000 magazine (gopher menu)

fringeware magazine so-called "guerilla media & other cool stuff" including an issue on chaos

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en français

sites philosophiques de Patrick Peccatte excellent

le Monde multimedia

Le xerox et l'infini de Jean Baudrillard et autres textes chez les virtualistes

Surfaces magazine bilingue philosophique

sur l'emploi du temps libre

Le Virtuel, Vertus et Vertiges de Philippe Queau


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The internet, with its hypertext references and mélange of everything but the kitchen sink, is the ultimate post-modern object.
If the net didn't exist, post-modernists would have to invent it, so it's only natural that there should be some attempts to use the net to de-construct post-modern texts. Indeed it's surprising there aren't more.
Michel Foucault Trading Card a cool ironic parody ... post-modern
Derrida de-construction on the net
Deleuze & Guattari Rhiz-omat
Lyotard Auto-differend page
hypertext as a showcase for post-modernism

For me the Gulf War provides a prime example of the post-modern era with its unreal collage of media, technology and geopolitics.
La Guerre du Golfe n'a pas eu Lieu (The Golf War did not occur) by Jean Baudrillard
L'Ecran du Desert (Desert Screen) by Paul Virilio - unfortunately not yet translated into English
Wired: War Is Virtual Hell by Bruce Sterling
Wired: Cyber-Deterrence by James Der Derian
Engulfed by the Vector by McKenzie Wark
Operation Desert Storm & its Media Appropriation by Frédéric Pallez