POST-MODERNISM… NOT A THING

WARNING! THE FOLLOWING IS  THE MOST PRETENTIOUS, ESOTERIC, AND WHOLLY UNIMPORTANT PSUEDO-ACADEMIC ANALYSIS THAT HULK HAS EVER WRITTEN. ENJOY!

HULK TOOK A QUESTION TO HULK’S TWITTER A FEW WEEKS BACK:

IS THERE SUCH A THING POST-MODERNISM?

IF WE’RE GOING THE COGITO ERGO SUM ROUTE, THEN SURE IT EXISTS. PEOPLE SAY IT A THING SO IT A THING.

BUT HULK NOT NECESSARILY A FAN OF GOING THAT ROUTE. THAT ROUTE NOT… WHAT’S THE PHRASE… HELPFUL IN ANY SORT OF WAY. LARGELY BECAUSE HULK BELIEVE  “CLARITY OF DEFINITION” ONE THOSE VERY IMPORTANT THINGS IN ACADEMIA. VAGUERY OF DEFINITION = THE ENEMY OF CLARITY AND CLARITY THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF CONVEYING INFORMATION. AND IF WE NOT CONVEYING INFORMATION HERE, WHAT THE HELL ARE WE EVEN DOING?

CLARITY ESPECIALLY RELEVANT BECAUSE IF YOU’VE EVER TRY TO GRADE A COLLEGE FRESHMAN’S PAPER YOU WOULD SEE SUCH A BREADTH OF PURPOSEFULLY-VAGUE INTELLECTUAL CONCEPTS MASHED TOGETHER WITH THE CARE OF A TODDLER. THE INESCAPABLE TRUTH THAT HULK WOULD RATHER TAKE A PAPER WITH 4TH GRADE LANGUAGE AND A CLEARLY EXPRESSED IDEA OVER THE HIGHEST-AIMING VAGUERY EVERY TIME.

THIS NOT IMPLY THAT BEING VAGUE NOT SOMETHING WE ALL GUILTY OF. EXPRESSING AN IDEA VERY DIFFICULT THING (ESPECIALLY WITH HULK-SPEAK). BUT THE SAD TRUTH THAT ONCE YOU DISLODGE YOUR FEAR OF BEING FOUND OUT AS “NOT-SUPER SMART” AND ACTUALLY LOOK UP WORDS YOU DON’T KNOW, IT BECOME VERY EASY TO READ SOMETHING AND KNOW IF THE WRITER HAS ANY CLUE WHAT THEY ACTUALLY SAYING.

WHAT ALL THIS HAVE TO DO WITH POST-MODERNISM?

A LOT OF THINGS ACTUALLY.

IT NOT THAT PEOPLE JUST BULLSHITTING WHEN THEY TALKING ABOUT POST-MODERNISM, IT THAT THEY SO WILLING TO ACCEPT THE ACADEMIA-BOUND VAGUERY  THAT GO ALONG WITH IT. EVERYTHING ABOUT POST-MODERNISM INVITES VAGERY. THEREFORE, IT INVITES BULLSHIT.

AND MOST OF ALL, HULK CONVINCED POST-MODERNISM NOT REALLY A THING AT ALL… SO ONE SUPPOSES MOST OF THE PROBLEMS STEM FROM THERE. AND ONCE AGAIN, BE WARNED: IN ORDER TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING THAT’S SUPER-BULLSHITTY, HULK GOING TO HAVE TO GET A LITTLE BULLSHITTY HULK-SELF.

COOL? COOL.

LET’S DO IT.

PROBLEM #1 – THE POPULAR CONCEPTION

SO LET’S ESTABLISH THE POPULAR NOTION OF POST-MODERNISM. HULK ASKED THE QUESTION ON TWITTER, AS GOOD A PLACE TO CROWD SOURCE AS ANY OTHER, PRECISELY BECAUSE IT IS NOT ONE OF HULK’S MANY OBTUSE, LITERATURE-FOCUSED MESSAGE BOARDS WHERE EVERYONE WOULD GIVE 5 PARAGRAPH ANSWERS. NO, TWITTER A PLACE WHERE THE ANSWER WILL NOT GET BOGGED DOWN IN LONG-WINDED EXPLANATIONS AND BLISSFULLLY LIMITED TO 140 CHARACTER TWEETS.  SOME OF YOU MAY THINK CROWD SOURCING TWITTER IS IDIOTIC, BUT 1) HULK’S FOLLOWERS PRETTY SMART IF YOU ASK HULK 2) THE REQUIREMENT OF BREVITY NECESSARY TO HULK’S UPCOMING POINTS AND 3) YOU TOO WILL REALIZE THAT MOST OF THESE RESPONSES ARE THOUGHTFUL, FUNNY, AND STRIVING TOWARD A RELEVANT POINT. SO WHAT HULK REALLY WANTS YOU TO CONSIDER IN THE FOLLOWING IS THE WIDE RANGE OF ANSWERS:

catch42_ Matthew Ruddle

Modernism: “Even geometric shapes can be art!” Post-Modernism: “Define art, lolz”

Smile_cat Elizabeth

Not all things modern postmodern. Postmodern not have to be rational or for socio-technology progress. Modernism sort of does.

T_Lawson Trey Lawson

Here’s my take: modernism reworks myth in search of meaning. Postmodernism deconstructs myth to prove the absence of meaning.

tomnomnomnom Doctor Tom

Modernism: seek, gain, lose (always lose) narrative. Post-modernism: don’t even bother. The narrative is a lie.

Sam_Strange Sam Strange

In Shakespeare’s plays you can see how the final bunch looks back and comments on his whole career. That to me is PM.

otakucomics Otaku Comics (Gerry)

modernism includes a sense of nostalgia. Pomo does not.

jettek Jette Kernion

I’m just happy not to hear anyone use the expression “po-mo” anymore. Gaaah.

nuitsilencieuse Tim Baumann

Peter Barry says it has to do with outlook. Modernism is sadly nostalgic, post-modernism is optimistic and vaguely campy.

JasonGBCam Jason Morrow

“Moe” from “Simpsons” explained PO-MO as “Weird for the sake of weird.” Does that make it different from modernism?

teeneyteeney Teeney Hood

Post-modernism is what you want it to be, maybe that’s modernism.

bigtotoro patrick mcdaniel

Breathless? Depends on what you consider modernism.

keithcalder Keith Calder

True post-modernism is what I call earnest-whimsy. Realism tempered by the understanding that it’s possible to deconstruct. Of course I’d never call that “post-modernism” because I think the term is ridiculous.

TheLazy1 Lara P.

Post-Modernism thinks it exists therefore it does. It’s descartesque, really. 🙂

OKAY…

SO THESE ARE A HANDFUL OF THE INITIAL RESPONSES BEFORE HULK STARTED THROWING OUT HULK’S THEORIES ON EXACTLY WHY POST-MODERNISM NOT A THING. NOTICE HOW THERE (SORT OF) A WAY IN WHICH SOME OF THE COMMENTATORS ARE (SORT OF) TALKING ABOUT THE SAME THING, BUT THERE ABSOLUTELY NO GOOD WAY TO CONSOLIDATE THEM INTO A SINGULAR COHESIVE IDEA.

WHY THAT SO IMPORTANT? BECAUSE EVERY SINGLE  CONCEPT, HIGHLY ACADEMIC OR OTHERWISE, SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE EXPLAINED WITH A SINGLE SENTENCE. NOT THE TOTALITY AND RANGE OF THE IDEA, BUT THE CRUX OF THE IDEA ITSELF.(1) SERIOUSLY, IF QUANTUM MECHANICS CAN BE EXPLAINED IN A SINGLE SENTENCE, THEN SO CAN ANY CRITICAL GROUPING OF AN ARTISTIC MOVEMENT.

THIS WOULD BE AN APT PLACE TO INCLUDE THE DEFINITION OF POST-MODERNISM, BUT HULK WANT TO NOT GO THERE FOR A SECOND, FOR REASONS THAT WILL BE CLEAR IN PROBLEM #2.

HULK JUST WANT IT TO SUFFICE TO SAY THAT THE POPULAR CONCEPTION OF POST-MODERNISM IS ANYTHING BUT AGREED UPON OR CLEARLY EXPRESSED.

PROBLEM #2 – POST-MODERNISM = THE SAME THING AS MODERNISM

OKAY, SO MOST LITERARY/ARTISTIC MOVEMENTS TEND TO BE A REACTION TO THE PRECEDING ONE. FOR EXAMPLE, RENAISSANCE PAINTING WAS A REACTION MEDIEVAL AESTHETIC, ROMANTICISM WAS A REACTION TO NEO-CLASSICISM, ETC. ETC. GOT IT? GOOD.

SO IN ORDER TO DEFINE POST-MODERNISM WE REALLY HAVE TO DEFINE MODERNISM FIRST. SO HERE, HULK HAS AUGMENTED A PRETTY GOOD DEFINITION OF MODERNISM FROM WIKIPEDIA: “Modernism was a revolt against the conservative values  of realism [including the] rejection of tradition and its reprise, incorporation, rewriting, recapitulation, revision and parody in new forms.”

THE MOST OBVIOUS WAY THIS EXPRESSED WAS IN THINGS LIKE PAINTING, WHERE WE EMBRACED ABSTRACT FORMS. WITH LITERATURE, WE FRACTURED THE NARRATIVE. MODERNISM WAS ESSENTIALLY THE CONFIRMATION OF ABSTRACT THOUGHT, MADE LITERAL IN ARTIST EXPRESSION. AND BY NATURAL EXTENSION, IT QUESTIONED THE VALUE OF REALITY/SINGULAR DEFINITIONS OF WHAT THESE FORMS MEAN/ARE SUPPOSED TO BE.

MAKE SENSE? OKAY.

NOW HERE THE WIKI-DEFINITON OF POST-MODERNISM (HULK INCLUDING THE LONG VERSION FOR A REASON): “Postmodernism is a philosophical movement away from the viewpoint of modernism. More specifically it is a tendency in contemporary culture characterized by the problem of objective truth and inherent suspicion towards global cultural narrative or meta-narrative. It involves the belief that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs, as they are subject to change inherent to time and place. It emphasizes the role of language, power relations, and motivations; in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependent on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist of. It attempts to problematise modernist overconfidence, by drawing into sharp contrast the difference between how confident speakers are of their positions versus how confident they need to be to serve their supposed purposes.”

PHEW, THAT A LOT OF DESCRIPTION.  THE FIRST THING YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THE WIKI DEFINITION NOT EVEN THAT CLEAR ABOUT WHAT POST-MODERNISM REALLY IS… THIS IS A PROBLEM OF COURSE, BUT YOU MIGHT BE ABLE TO LOOK PAST THAT VAGUERY AND GET A SENSE THAT POST-MODERNISM MOSTLY CONCERNED WITH OBJECTIVE TRUTH IN OUR SOCIETY, OR SOMETHING. YES, YOU COULD PROBABLY READ THAT DESCRIPTION AND THINK: “OKAY I GET IT. I SEE HOW THE TWO THINGS ARE DIFFERENT.”… BUT IT WOULD BE AT THAT POINT WHERE YOU WOULD BE, RATHER DISTINCTLY, WRONG.

AND THAT’S BECAUSE MODERNISM SAID/DID THE SAME EXACT THING.

HULK MUST RESTATE: THEY NOT DIFFERENT WHATSOEVER. THE ONLY THING THAT’S DIFFERENT IS THAT THEY SOMETIMES CENTERED AROUND DIFFERENT SUBJECTS OR POINTS IN RECENT HISTORY.

LET’S RETURN TO MORE OF THE WIKI DEFINITION OF MODERNISM: “Modernism rejected the lingering certainty of Enlightenment thinking and also rejected the existence of a compassionate, all-powerful Creator God^[8][9] in favor of the abstract, unconventional, largely uncertain ethic brought on by modernity, initiated around the turn of century by rapidly changing technology and further catalyzed by the horrific consequences of World War One on the cultural psyche of artists.”

FIRST YOU’LL NOTICE HOW THAT SOUNDS A LOT LIKE TODAY, AND SECOND YOU’LL NOTICE HOW POST-MODERNISM THINKS IT IS SO CENTERED AROUND THE FUNDAMENTAL NOTION OF CERTAINTY AND DEFYING TRADITIONAL AESTHETICS.

THINK ABOUT IT. JUST HOW IN THE HELL IS POST-MODERNISM MOVING AWAY FROM MODERNISM?

FOR EXAMPLE, THE GOAL OF MODERNIST ABSTRACT ART WASN’T JUST TO SAY “ART CAN BE ABSTRACT!” BUT TO SAY “ART CAN BE ANYTHING.” THAT’S LITERALLY WHAT THEY WERE TRYING TO DO, TO INVERT OUR CONCEPTION OF WHAT IT COULD BE. AND THE PROOF WAS THAT PEOPLE SAT AROUND AND LOOKED AT MODERN ART AND ASKED “IS THIS ART?” THE PROOF IS IN THE PROVERBIAL PUDDING. THEY HAD THE EXACT SAME CONCERNS AS TODAY’S MODERNIST CULTURE AND THE DIALOGUE CENTERED AROUND THE LANGUAGE WAS THE EXACT SAME IN IT’S NATURE.

SO WHEN AN ARTIST TODAY MAKES A FOUND OBJECT SCULPTURE, OR SOME IDIOT PUTS A CROSS IN A JAR OF PEE AND SAYS “IT’S POST-MODERN” BECAUSE THEY’RE INVERTING THE CONCEPT OF WHAT ART CAN BE, THEY’RE LITERALLY DO THE EXACT SAME THING IN THE EXACT SAME GOAL AS MODERNISM. YES, OF COURSE, FOUND-OBJECT ART IS DIFFERENT FORM THAN ABSTRACT PAINTING, BUT JUST BECAUSE IT COMES LATER IN THE MOVEMENT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NECESSARILY DIFFERENT. IT’S NOT EVEN A DISTINCTION. THINK ABOUT IT. THE FOUND-OBJECT SCULPTURE IS NOT SAYING SOMETHING AGAINST ABSTRACTION. THEY’RE DOING THE SAME THING IN A DIFFERENT, LATER ART FORM. THAT’S IT.

THE TRUTH IS WE REALLY HAVEN’T MOVED PAST MODERNISM.

FOR EXAMPLE, IN TERMS OF LITERATURE, JAMES JOYCE’S ULYSSES AND FINNEGAN’S WAKE ARE CONSIDERED THE SEMINAL WORKS OF MODERNISM (PRETTY MUCH ALL JOYCE, REALLY(2)). BUT THERE NOT A SINGLE CONCEPT, FORM, OR IDEA USED IN POST-MODERN LIT THAT CAN’T BE FOUND IN THOSE BOOKS. AGAIN, THOSE BOOKS WHICH ARE USED TO DEFINE LITERARY MODERNISM. REALLY, IT’S TRUE. YET TIME AND TIME AGAIN HULK SEE PEOPLE REFERRING TO POST-MODERN ART AND LITERATURE: THE WORK OF ANDY WARHOL. TIM HAWKINSON. THOMAS PYNCHON. DAVID FOSTER WALLACE. THERE NOTHING POST-MODERN ABOUT ANY OF THEM, BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING THAT ISN’T MODERNIST ABOUT ANY OF THEM. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE? HULK WANT BE SURE THIS MAKES SENSE. AND KEEP IN MIND HULK ADORES ALL THOSE PEOPLE, BUT THEY JUST CURRENT MODERNISTS STRIVING TOWARD THEIR OWN PARTICULAR BRAND OF IDEAS.

SO WHAT GIVES? HOW THIS ACADEMIC + POPULAR MISCONCEPTION KEEP HAPPENING?

HULK BELIEVE THE ANSWER COMES FROM A COMPLETELY UNFAIR PRACTICE: THE RETRO-ACTIVE CHANGING OF THE DEFINITION OF MODERNISM TO REMOVE ANYTHING WITH SO-CALLED POST-MODERN LEANINGS.

LOOK, HULK UNDERSTAND THAT ALMOST EVERY HISTORICAL LABEL IS A BROAD STROKE TO IT’S SUBJECT. NEO-CLASSIC WRITERS WEREN’T SITTING AROUND THINKING ABOUT FALLING IN LINE WITH THE RULES OF THEIR CURRENT ERA. THAT WOULD BE ABSURD. AS SUCH, THERE A DEGREE TO WHICH WE CAN REVISE HISTORICAL GROUPINGS OF PEOPLE TO MAKE SENSE OF CONCEPTUAL TRENDS. BUT THIS MODERNISM/POST-MODERINISM SCRAMBLE IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT. THIS IS STRAIGHT UP MIS-CHARACTERIZATION. GO BACK AND LOOK AT THE TWO DEFINITIONS OF MODERNISM AND POST-MODERNISM. TO BE HONEST, IT’S LIKE POST-MODERNISM NEVER EVEN BOTHERED LOOKING UP THE REAL DEFINITION OF MODERNISM.

THE WAY IT IS STATED, POST-MODERNISM STRIKES HULK AS NOTHING MORE THAN THE BASIC INTERPRETATION/GOAL OF MODERNISM, TAKEN TO IT’S FURTHEST LOGICAL/CONCEPTUAL POINT. IT IS A CONTINUATION. AN EXTENSION. AND THERE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING “POST” ABOUT IT.

HULK FLOATED THE IDEA THAT MODERNISM AND POST-MODERNISM WHERE SAYING THE SAME EXACT THING IN THE SAME EXACT WAY  ON TWITTER (SPECIFICALLY THE JOYCE POINT, ALBEIT IN TRUNCATED FORM) AND PEOPLE RESPONDED ONCE AGAIN. PLEASE NOTICE THAT MOST OF THE REACTIONS ARE COMING FROM A PLACE OF GENUINE CARE AND THOUGH, BUT ALSO NOTICE THE RANGE OF ANSWERS:

otakucomics Otaku Comics (Gerry)

Mod = peeling artichoke and enjoying the heart lament the waste Pomo = peeling onion, nothing in center, but fuck it, eat.

not familiar enough with FW, but always thought it was more mod. Crying of Lot 49 is true Pomo.

TheLazy1 Lara P.

Well, they are similar but mainly b/c postmodernism is really a consequence of modernism.

Modernism asked questions to which it sought logical answers. Postmodernism recognized there were no answers.

bg_ohthehorror Brett G.

I think post-modernism is just a little more cheeky/cognizant of meta concerns.

Not that modernism wasn’t meta (FINNEGANS WAKE is a good example), but it generally let the art stand.

But really, I think we feel to need to constantly categorize things as eras wear on. What are we in now? Post-post-post mod?

Smile_cat Elizabeth

Excellent points, but self-identification should not be discounted. If Pomo people say they not Mod, not fair to say they are.

nuitsilencieuse Tim Baumann

Modernism got interrupted by history the way that no other critical movement has been, I think. That’s why it seems that way.

zackschuster Zack Schuster

Postmodernism is different in attitude than Modernism, but not in technique.

What would you call the era we’re in right now? Neomodernist or Post-postmodern? Or something else?

Kilgoar Billy d0x Walshe

Hulk, we can’t arrive at absolute truth because of sensory and lingual barriers.

Jarimor Scott Hawkes

Post-modernism only works until it explains itself through semantic slight of hand, devouring itself with its infallibility

Post-Modernism it is an attempt to plug self-explaining logic into Modernism in order to make it all-encompassing, a fallacy

bg_ohthehorror Brett G.

Oddly enough, wouldn’t post-modernism be the one type of movement that would point itself out?

Carpie2112 Jesse A Carp

I remember discussing post-mod in every class the first two years of uni… by year four it was no longer a ‘valid’ concept.

B_Kritz Bryan Kritz

It doesn’t exist in reality and can never be fully formed. Same as tomorrow, when you are there it’s today. 🙂

Sam_Strange Sam Strange

my take, and still based primarily on Shakespeare: good postmodernism is an artistic reaction to precedent…

done well, pm storytelling forges new storytelling methods by knowingly diverting from normal narrative paths.

it’s a narrative response to the art form, but not a textual one. I think this is the difference between pm and meta.

warmandpunchy John Cameron

not sure about this – modernism carried with it a certain volume of conservatism as well (in lit anyways)

vs. postmodernism which in multivalent perspective + voice opened doors for feminist/marxist/etc thought in arts

viously an oversimplification but i’d argue that modernism was about style vs. postmodernism being about substance

which it should be pointed out is not hierarchical – contemporary art/thought has benefited from both in fairly equal measure

XtianHardy Christian Hardy

In many ways Moderism became THE method of delivering literary realism see also: viriginia woolf #tryharder

for more info on Post-Modernism see the 1980s-90s, they want their critical theory back

Finnigan’s Wake is post-Ulysses however, which is the arch-text of literary modernism. So yes in a way, FW is post-modern.

Why am I arguing about modernism with the Hulk? Isn’t he supposed to be all smashy-smashy? I suspect @FilmCritHULK is really the Grey Hulk.

AND LASTLY:

tomnomnomnom Doctor Tom

Completely disagree with this logic if you’re attempting to conflate ideals of modernism and postmodernism into one thing.

This is akin to saying that Saussure and Bakhtin because they operated under a mechanism of broad questions and disentangling

…these problems of language and text that they invented and solidified the same theories. This is obviously problematic.

Modernism is concerned with the process of the loss of humanity, the process of the loss of dignity, process of the loss…

of the familiar, of language, of Narrative. Po-mo exploits the lacuna left over as a means to re-create this idealized loss

I would point you to a comparison of Ulysses and House of Leaves – or L’Eclisse to Slacker. #toobigfortwitter

TO BE FAIR TO THESE RESPONSES, HULK WAS TALKING IN BROAD STROKES ON TWITTER (AS THEY WERE) AND COULDN’T EXPLAIN HULK’S THEORY AS IN DEPTH AS ABOVE, BUT NOTICE THE FREQUENT ISSUES OF POST-MODERNISM DEFINITIONS THAT SAY THE SAME AS MODERNISM, ETC. AND HULK COULD RESPOND TO EACH ONE OF THESE TWEETS AND SAY WHY HULK DISAGREE BUT THAT WOULD BE SILLY AND A RELATIVE WASTE OF TIME. HULK JUST WANTED YOU TO THE FULL RANGE OF DIFFERENT RESPONSES. SUFFICE TO SAY, HULK NEVER GOT AN ANSWER THAT CONFIRMS THE TWO ARE DIFFERENT WITHOUT RADICALLY AND UNFAIRLY LIMITING THE SCALE/INTENT/INTERESTS OF MODERNISM.

PROBLEM #3 – BOTH PERIODS ARE POORLY NAMED

IN SOME WAYS, THE VAST MAJORITY OF PROBLEMS STEM FROM THE FACT WE CALLED MODERNISM “MODERNISM” AND NOT SOMETHING MORE SPECIFIC. PROBLEMS INCLUDE: A) IT’S A VAGUE TERM TO BEGIN WITH UNLIKE, SAY, “ROMANTICISM” WHICH VERY SPECIFIC AND DESCRIPTIVE PHRASE. B) THE WORD “MODERNISM” EXPLICITLY BEGS TO BE THOUGHT OF AS WHATEVER TREND IS CURRENT. AND C) THEN CALLING THIS NEW PERIOD POST-MODERNISM IS LIKE CALLING “WHATEVER IS AFTER THAT ALREADY BROAD, VAGUE THING. IT DOESN’T MATTER WHAT REALLY, AS LONG AS IT’S AFTER.” … YEAH WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT IT THE PHRASE “POST-MODERNISM” IS QUITE POSSIBLE THE MOST THOROUGHLY INACCURATE NAME FOR A TREND EVER.

SO YEAH, THIS ISN’T A LONG PROBLEM TO DISCUSS, BUT STILL NOTEWORTHY.

PROBLEM #4 – WE’RE TOO CLOSE TO “IT” TO BE LABELING ANYTHING

THE BALL DIDN’T DROP AND ALL OF SUDDEN EVERYONE CHEERED “YAY, IT’S THE RENAISSANCE!”

IT IMPLICITLY TAKES HINDSIGHT TO SEE A TREND. TO SEE WHAT STRIKES A CHORD IN OUR CULTURE (OUTSIDE OF ECONOMIC IMMEDIACY). HULK KNOW SOCIETY IS SO INTERCONNECTED TODAY AND TRENDS MOVE SO FAST (INTENET MEMES CAN BECOME BORING WITHIN… MINUTES?) SO SOMETIMES IT’S BETTER TO WORK WITH FORMS OF ART THAT ARE MORE READILY APPARENT THAN PAINTING, OR LITERATURE. MOVIES ARE ACTUALLY A GREAT EXAMPLE. WHY? BECAUSE THEY’RE SO EXPENSIVE SO THERE IS LESS CONTENT AND ARE SUCH A NEW ARTFORM (ONLY JUST OVER 100 YEARS OLD) THAT THERE IS A MUCH SHORTER TIMELINE TO INTERACT WITH, MAKING IT SO MUCH EASIER TO PUT THE PIECES OF INFLUENCE + HISTORY TOGETHER. FOR EXAMPLE: AMERICAN NOIR WAS A DIRECT RESULT OF GERMAN EXPRESSIONISM. ITALIAN NEOREALISM WAS A DIRECT RESULT OF ALL THE SOUNDSTAGES IN ITALY BEING DESTROYED IN WORLD WAR II. STUFF LIKE THAT. NONE OF THEM REALIZED AT THE TIME THEY WERE PART OF ANY MOVEMENT (THE FRENCH NEW WAVE MAY HAVE BEEN CONSCIOUS THAT THEY WERE PART OF “SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT” BUT THEY DIDN’T KNOW WHAT THEIR LEGACY AND TIES WERE UNTIL A FEW YEARS LATER). EVEN WITH SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS BLOATED 90’S ACTION CINEMA IT WAS JUST CONSIDERED THE “CURRENT” AESTHETIC AT THE TIME, BUT WHEN WE LOOK BACK WE CAN SEE THE OBVIOUS AND INANE TREND.

THIS NOT TO IMPLY THAT THIS OVER-WILLINGNESS TO LABEL CURRENT TRENDS RUNS COUNTER TO HULK’S BELIEF THAT “CLARITY OF DEFINITION” REALLY IMPORTANT. THERE HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LABELING A SPECIFIC THING TO TRY AND GET TO THE HEART OF WHAT IT’S DOING/SAYING, AND THE INCLINATION TO HAPHAZARDLY LUMP SOMETING IT INTO SOME GLOBAL ALL ENCOMPASSING TREND. FOR EXAMPLE OF WHAT HULK MEANS BY THAT, HULK WOULD FEEL VERY COMPELLED TO TRY AND EXPLAIN/DEFINE WHAT CUARON’S “Y TU MAMA TAMBIEN” MEANS IN A SINGLE SENTENCE. BUT HULK WOULD FEEL LESS COMPELLED TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE LATIN AMERICAN “NEUVA WAVE” MEANS IN A SINGLE SENTENCE. MAKE SENSE?

WHAT’S FUNNY IS THAT THIS “GLOBAL TREND” POINT JUST HIGHLIGHTS THE IRONY THAT POST-MODERNISM THINKS IT DISMISSES THE NOTION OF GLOBAL TRENDS, AND YET ITSELF, CAN ONLY EXIST AS GLOBAL TREND. IF THEY DO NOT, THEN POST-MODERNISM IS JUST NOTHING MORE THAN  STRUCTURAL NIHILISM OR CHAOS THEORY.

SO IF POST-MODERNISM IS WHATEVER THIS “CURRENT” ART FORM/CULTURE TREND IS, THAN TO LABEL SOMETHING AS POST-MODERN IS, AT BEST, GETTING AHEAD OF ONE SELF, OR AT WORST, TAKING ADVANTAGE OF ALL-INCLUSIVE BUZZWORDISM.

LABELING IS WEIRD. ONCE WE FOR REAL IN SOMETHING ELSE CULTURALLY (PROBABLY WHEN A TECHNOLOGICAL/SOCIETAL SHIFT DRAMATICALLY AFFECTS THE PRODUCT OF ART, LIKE IF WORLD WAR 3 HAPPENS,  THE ECONOMY DIES, OR SOMETHING MORE INNOCENT LIKE IF WE STOP PUTTING BOOKS ON PAPER), THEN THE REALITY OF WHATEVER THE HELL WE THOUGHT POST-MODERNISM WAS, WILL BE OBVIOUS. (3)

PROBLEM #5 – IT CAN’T EXIST BY IT’S OWN DEFINITION.

THIS ONE A LITTLE BULLSHITTY, BUT ONE OF THE DEEPEST PROBLEMS OF POSTER-MODERNISM IS THAT IT TECHNICALLY CAN’T EXIST. POST MODERNISM BELIEVES THAT THERE NO OBJECTIVE TRUTH, AND ALL CONSTRUCTS ARE RELATIVE. BUT BY PRODUCING A WORK THAT IS “POST-MODERN” EVEN IN IT’S REFERENTIAL STATE, YOU ARE STILL CREATING A DEFINITE CONSTRUCT. EVEN BY WRITING DOWN THIS IDEA, HULK MAKING A CONSTRUCT. THIS MEANS THAT (TECHNICALLY) YOU CAN’T WRITE A POST-MODERN BOOK AND CALL IT A BOOK. YOU CAN’T CREATE POST-MODERN ART AND CALL IT ART.

IT SORT OF A SCHROEDENGERS CAT THING, BUT IT PROOF THAT ANY ATTEMPT TO EVEN BE AMBIVALENT ABOUT OBJECTIVE TRUTH, IS THEREFORE TRYING TO MAKE A DEFINITIVE STATEMENT THAT TRUTH IS OBJECTIVE.

HOORAY FOR PARADOXES.

AND HULK JUST KNOW PEOPLE WOULD IMMEDIATELY JUMP ON HULK’S/SOCIETIES INABILITY TO DEFINE POST-MODERNISM AS PROOF THAT POST-MODERNISM EXISTS BECAUSE THAT WHAT IT SAYING, THINGS CAN’T BE DEFINED, BUT THAT, IS ACTUALLY, IDIOTIC BECAUSE IT RUNS DIRECTLY COUNTER TO THE POINT HULK JUST MADE. IT DOESN’T MAKE POST-MODERNISM “POST-MODERN” IT MAKES WHAT THEY THINK “POST-MODERNISM” IS, MERELY A REFLEXIVE STATEMENT… THAT IT.

OOOH AND THERE’S ANOTHER GOOD PARADOX TOO. HULK’S FAVORITE PART OF THE POST-MODERNISM DISCUSSION IS WHEN PEOPLE CALL SOMETHING POST-MODERN BECAUSE IT EMBRACES THE “NEW MYTH” AND USES MODERNIST CONSTRUCTS TO REBUILD AN OLD GENRE, LIKE A TRADITIONAL ROMANCE OR SOMETHING. THIS IS HILARIOUS BECAUSE SAYING THAT POST-MODERNISM IS ACTUALLY TRYING TO BUILD A NEW-MYTH TRUTH IS THE EXACT OPPOSTITE OF THE SUPPOSED POST-MODERN DEFINITION. THERE’S A FURTHER IRONY, THAT THEY ARE PROBABLY MAKING THIS STATEMENT BECAUSE BUILDING THE “NEW MYTH” IS GENUINELY A REACTION TO MODERNISM (WHICH TO INCLUDES POST-MODERNISM IN HULK’S EYES) THUS MAKING THE IT A GENUINELY “POST-MODERN” CONCEPT! WHICH MEANS THAT IS WHAT WE SHOULD BE DEFINING POST-MODERN AS! (IF WE’RE GOING TO USE THAT HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PHRASE).

ALL WE’D NEED TO DO IS FIGURE THE CONSTRUCT OF THOUGHT THAT ALL LINES UP.

MAYBE IT COULD BE NEO-ROMANTICISM. OR NEO-HUMANISM. HELL, HULK COULD TOTALLY ARGUE WE GOING THROUGH A NEO-RELIGIOUS ARTISTIC MOVE (ONE THAT HASN’T REALLY BEEN ALL THAT REFLECTED IN ART). THE POINT IS WE WONT’ KNOW IF IT’S PART OF ANOTHER SIGNIFICANT TREND UNTIL SOME TIME HAS PAST. BUT IN THE MEANTIME? YOU CAN CALL IT NEO-ROMANTIC PIECE THAT USES MODERNIST LANGUAGE. AND GUESS WHAT? THAT’S A TOTALLY MORE ACCURATE WAY TO DESCRIBE THAN CALLING IT “POST-MODERN.” WHICH, IN CASE HULK HASN’T MADE IT TOTALLY CLEAR AT THIS POINT, COULD FUCKING MEAN ANYTHING.

DAVID FOSTER WALLACE’S RECENT UNFINISHED BOOK IS A MODERNIST APPROACH TO THE MEMOIR. EVERYONE THROWS OUT THE WORD POST-MODERN TO DESCRIBE  IT (AND TO BE FAIR, IT DOES FEEL QUITE REVOLUTIONARY AND NEW) BUT TO DESCRIBE LIKE THAT WOULD ALSO BE VERY, VERY WRONG. IT’S A MODERNIST APPROACH TO THE MEMOIR, THAT MIGHT BE, VERY NEO-HUMANISTIC.

ULTIMATELY, POST-MODERNISM IS SO FUCKING EITHERAL AND VAGUE WHY HAS NO ONE EVER STOPPED AND SAID, “YOU KNOW WHAT? THIS IS REALLY STUPID. WE’RE TRYING TO LUMP A LOT OF CONCEPTS INTO A SINGULAR THING THAT DOESN’T EVEN MAKE SENSE, AND WORSE ARE THEORY ITSELF ARGUES AGAINST EVEN DOING SO.  AND MAYBE THIS IDEA DISAPPEAR UP IT’S OWN ASSHOLE SO FAST THAT CALLING SOMETHING POST-MODERN IS TO INSTANTLY SAY ‘I HAVE NO WAY OF DEVELOPING THIS IDEA IN CONCRETE TERMS SO I’M GOING TO USE A BULLSHIT PHRASE’ OR ‘I DON’T WANT TO USE CATEGORIZATIONS THAT HAVE BEEN AROUND FOREVER SO I’M GOING TO MAKE UP A NEW ONE THAT CAN’T BE DEFINED.'”

OKAY… THAT’S SUPER HARSH… HULK SORRY. BUT BEYOND THAT, THE WHOLE REVOLUTIONARY IDEA OF WHAT WE’RE SUPPOSED TO GAIN FROM POST-MODERNISM IS, QUITE FRANKLY, FUCKING OBVIOUS. OF COURSE CONSTRUCTS ARE A FUCKING FABRICATION. OF COURSE WE SHOULDN’T TAKE THEM LITERALLY. BUT CONSTRUCTS ARE WHAT WE USE TO HOLD UP SOCIETIES. THEY ARE, QUITE FRANKLY, THE MOST NECESSARY THING ABOUT OUR HUMAN BRAINS BECAUSE THEY ALLOW US TO MOVE BEYOND CLUBBING EACH OTHER OVER THE HEAD AND STEALING EACH OTHER’S WALLETS.

THE PART OF THIS RANT LABELED A “CONCLUSION”

WHAT PERHAPS REALLY TOUGH ABOUT THIS, IS THAT HULK JUST CAN’T GO AROUND CALLING SOMETHING “MODERNIST” WHEN WE LIVE IN A CULTURE THAT THINKS THIS VAGUE POST-MODERNISM IS ACTUALLY A THING. IT’S LIKE TRYING TO PAY AT THE CORNER STORE WITH MONOPOLY MONEY, MODERN ACADEMIA IS JUST FUCKING USING THE PHRASE AND THAT MIGHT BE THAT.

BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW, HULK BEEN ARGUING WITH THOSE ACADEMIC TYPES FOR YEARS ABOUT THIS (MANY WILL LIKELY TAKE ISSUE WITH THIS ARTICLE TOO). BUT ALL THAT’S REQUIRED TO MAKE IT WORK WITH THE OTHER ACADEMIC TYPES IS FOR HULK TO MAKE HULK’S USE OF THE LANGUAGE RATHER WELL-KNOWN AT FIRST BEFORE QUALIFYING.

AND HULK, QUITE OBVIOUSLY, NOT THE FIRST ONE TO EVER SUGGEST POST-MODERNISM NOT A THING, NOR HULK EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO DOING IT AS GOOD AS SOME EXPERTS. IN FACT, HULK REALLY NOT HAPPY WITH THIS EXPLANATION. IT WHOLLY INCOMPLETE AND HULK MAKE WAY TOO MANY UNQUALIFIED STATEMENTS. BUT HULK SHOULD REALLY BE ABLE TO WRITE A COLUMN THAT NOT 12,000 WORDS. AND BESIDES, THIS HAS BEEN THE LEAST FUN COLUMN HULK HAS EVER WRITTEN SO THE THE IDEA OF WRITING ABOUT POST-MODERNISM FOR EVEN ANOTHER PAGE OR SO ENOUGH TO DRIVE HULK TO THE BRINK OF MADNESS.

HONESTLY, IT NOT THAT HARD TO DO.

ALL HULK REALLY WANTED OUT OF THIS WAS FOR YOU TO THINK ABOUT THE SUBJECT A LITTLE BE… TO NOT USE PHRASES WITH A LACK OF CLARITY… TO NOT USE THE TERM “POST-MODERN” WITH SUCH DEFINITIVENESS… AND TO MAYBE BE A LITTLE MORE SKEPTICAL WHENEVER SOMEONE USING THE TERM.

AND BESIDES, HULK THINK OVER-LONG CONVERSATIONS ABOUT FORM ITSELF = ABSOLUTELY THE MOST BORING CONVERSATIONS ONE COULD HAVE. THEY JUST NOT THAT IMPORTANT CULTURALLY, NOR DOES HULK THINK THEY’RE THAT IMPORTANT ACADEMICALLY (QUALIFYING LITERARY DOCTORATES AND REQUIREMENT OF “NEW” LEADS TO MOST OF THE PROBLEMS HERE). HULK KNOW LOTS OF PEOPLE DISAGREE. BUT HULK THINK IT REALLY NOT THAT IMPORTANT COMPARED TO ACTUAL INTENT OF SUBJECT.

THERE A GOOD/SUPER-ON-THE-NOSE SCENE IN A DEAD POET’S SOCIETY WHERE THEY READ FROM A PASSAGE ABOUT CHARTING THE “IMPORTANCE” OF A POEM. IT’S VERY SQUARE AND STUPID AND THE REJECTION OF THIS CONCEPT OBVIOUS. BUT IN ANOTHER WAY, THEY ARE ESSENTIALLY, REJECTING OVERT CARE ABOUT THE SEMANTICS OF FORM. AND TO HULK, THE POST-MODERN DISCUSSION IS NOTHING BUT THE OVERT CARE ABOUT THE SEMANTICS OF FORM. BY TALKING TOO MUCH ABOUT THE FORM/POLITICS OF MODERNISM/POST-MODERNISM WE ARE ACTUALLY DOING THE SAME THING, STRANGLING THE VERY THING THAT IS CRITICAL TO OUR HUMAN OPERATION.  HULK THINK IT’S DOING A GREAT DISSERVICE TO THE PIECE OF ART. WHAT MAKES DAVID FOSTER WALLACE GREAT IS NOT THAT HE FRACTURES A NARRATIVE. HULK LOVED WALLACE BECAUSE CARED ABOUT OUR CULTURE DIRECTION IN A DEEP AND PROFOUND WAY. THAT’S THE CONVERSATION HULK WANTS TO HAVE.

SAY WHAT YOU WILL, BUT TO HULK? POST-MODERNISM… YEAH… NOT A THING

… BUT IF POST-MODERNISM IS A THING HULK PRETTY SURE IT MAYBE ONLY EXIST IN ARCHITECTURE… OR MARIA BAMFORD.

BAMFORD!

ENDNOTES:

(1) YES, ALL IDEAS SHOULD HAVE A CRUX. AND YES, HULK FULLY AWARE THAT POST-MODERNISM ARGUES THAT SUCH SINGULAR DEFINITIONS ARE FALSE, BUT THE FACT THAT IT CAN’T MAKE THAT ARGUMENT IN A SINGLE SENTENCE ODDLY ENOUGH PROVES HULK’S RELATIVE POINT: POST-MODERNISM ISN’T EVEN THAT GOOD AT WHAT IT’S TRYING TO NEBULOUSLY EXPLAIN.

(2)IF YOU EVER WANT TO TEACH KIDS JOYCE AND ALSO KEEP THEM AWAKE, TEACH PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN. YOU SORTA NEED TO BE IN YOUR TWENTIES TO TACKLE ANYTHING ELSE BY HIM.

(3) HULK SHOULD POSSIBLY QUALIFY THAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT AMERICAN/WESTERN CIVILIZATION HERE. CULTURAL TRENDS ARE, WELL, RATHER DIFFERENT SORT OF DISCUSSION IN FIRST WORLD CHINA OR THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES.

RANDOM ENDNOTE #1: LOTS PEOPLE CLAIM SHAKESPEARE THE FIRST MODERNIST. POST-MODERNISTS CLAIM HE THE FIRST POST-MODERNISM (EVERYONE WANTS A PIECE OF SHAKESPEARE. HE THAT GOOD). PLAYING THE LEAD IN THE TEMPEST, IN THAT ROLE, THAT NOT POST-MODERN?