Postmodernism and "White Noise"

Postmodernism, according Dr. Mary Klages of the University of Colorado, does not have a single definition. The word is encompasses not just literature, but also art, architecture, music, film, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology (Klages). Dr. Klages states that one must consider modernism before they try to discover what postmodernism is. This, she says, will help one to define postmodernism by comparing and contrasting the similarities and differences between the characteristics and features of each. (Klages)

It is not just Dr. Mary Klages who defines postmodernism in such a way, however. It seems that the entire academic world does the same. Shannon Weiss and Karla Wesley of the University of Alabama outline the differences between modernism and postmodernism in order to define postmodernism as well. Some of the key differences are as follows:

Modern

Reasoning: From Foundation upward

Science: Universal Optimism

Part/Whole: Parts Comprise the whole

God: Acts by violating "natural"
laws" or by "immanence" in
everything that is

Language: Referntial


Postmodern

Reasoning: Multiple factors of multiple levels

of reasoning. Web-oriented reasoning

Science: Realism of limitations

Part/Whole: The whole is more than the parts

God: Top-down causation

Language: Meaning in social context through usage

Source: http://private.fuller.edu/~clameter/phd/postmodern.html


This chart is very helpful in defining postmodernism, and in discerning between modern and postmodern texts. These characteristics are readily apparent throughout the novel White Noise. The characteristic that seems to stand out the most is the “realism of limitations” in the category of science.


Throughout the entirety of White Noise, the main character, Jack Gladney, lives his life according to the limitations set forth by science and technology. The first section of the novel is titled Waves and Radiation, which represents something like a magnetism of the electronic version of brainwaves drawing in those who live their lives around television, computers, appliances, telephones, and all the other forms of technology that society relies on in everyday life. Almost everything that Jack does is centered around technology, and he realizes this, though he does not seem to resent it. Jack understands that he is limited by the technology he is reliant upon, but is content. For example, one of the last lines in the book is, “a slowly moving line, satisfying, giving us time to glance at the tabloids on the racks” (DeLillo, 326). Jack is waiting in line to check out at a supermarket. He is waiting for the technology of price scanners to tell him how much he owes for his packaged foods, and he is satisfied with it.

With all the characteristics listed above combined, it appears that postmodernism is the realization of whole self, inclusive in society, and reliant upon the rationality of technology and societal norms to discover what is “right”. All of this is present in White Noise. Jack Gladney heavily relies on societal norms, and uses the reasoning of the whole of society rather than basic reasoning. For example, Jack states that he and his family will not be harmed in any way because he is a professor and the head of a department at a major university. Therefore, he is too important to be involved in any sort of catastrophe. Here, he using his societal standings to reason that he is special and nothing will hurt him.


Klages, Mary. University of Colorado. 2003. http://www.colorado.edu/English/courses/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html

Weiss, Shannon and Wesley, Karla. University of Alabama.
http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/Faculty/murphy/436/pomo.htm

Rape in "Breath, Eyes, Memory"

One of the most prominent issues in Breath, Eyes, Memory is female sexuality in general, and more specifically, the rape and sexual assault of women. Sophie Caco’s mother, Martine, was raped when she was a young girl and became pregnant with Sophie. Martine’s entire life was plagued by the rape, and she was never truly able to get past it. It was not only the rape that caused strife in Martine’s life, however. She was also seemingly traumatized by the “testing” that her mother performed on her when she was young. This “testing” was an a examination during which Martine’s mother felt her hymen to make sure it was still intact, and that she was still a virgin. Martine, however, was not the only girl who was tested for virginity. It seemed to be a common practice in the Haitian culture. Martine’s sister was tested, her mother was tested before her, and she, herself, tested her own daughter. It was a practice that the women could not seem to stop, but that emotionally harmed each of them.

According the BBC News, rape is a common practice with little consequence (for those who perform the rape, anyway) in Haiti (BBC News). Rape is a common atrocity all over the world, but it is seen differently in Haiti than in places like the United States. For example, a 16-year old girl named Mary Jane was trapped in corridor by a man from her neighborhood while on her way to buy water. He raped her and would not let go when he was finished. He continued to hurt her by hitting. Mary Jane stabbed the man with a pair of scissors, and he later died. The 16-year old was imprisoned in an adult jail for two years for killing the man. (BBC News)

This is an example of the way in which men are favored over women in Haiti. Rape wasn’t made a crime until 2005, and, still, few men are prosecuted for the offense (BBC News). According the UN, almost half of all women under the age of 18, who are living in Haitian slums, have been raped (BBC News).

This use of sex as a weapon in Haiti affects women negatively in many ways, as is demonstrated by the women, especially Martine, in the novel. Virginity is obviously very important to the women, and it is extremely difficult for them when it is stolen from them. Martine is so traumatized by her rape that, while pregnant with her second child, she has delusions of hearing the rapist’s voice from her unborn child. She is so affected by this that she stabs herself in the stomach, killing her and her child.

It is obvious from the examples throughout the novel and the information from BBC News that women are very subjugated by sexual control. They are controlled through rape and through “testing” for virginity. It is important for them to stay pure, but it is made difficult for them by the many men who seem to see rape as a right of theirs.

“Rape looms large over Haiti slums”. BBC News. 2008.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7750568.stm

Adah in "The Poisonwood Bible"

A character from The Poisonwood Bible who I liked more than the others was Adah Price. Throughout the novel, she was disconnected from the world and the other characters. She did not speak throughout her childhood, and very much kept to herself. This allowed her opinion to be uninfluenced by others, as she did not tell them what she thought of things. She also saw the world in a very different manner than the other characters did. This was partially due to the fact that she had a handicap, and partially due to her increased intelligence. Her opinions and perspectives also seemed to be more pure than he others’ because of the fact that she did not fully participate in the world as others did.

Adah chose not to speak when she was young because of her anger with the world and with God. She was more sensitive than the other members of her family to the hardships and unfair pain that many had to struggle through because she had to struggle through life due to her handicap. Because of her firsthand experience with adversity, Adah became aware, early in life, of the inequitable distribution of affliction in the world. She was wiser than the other Prices, because her living inside of herself and contemplating on the troubles of humanity. For instance, Adah question her Sunday school teacher when she said that African children were damned to hell because they were born in a place where Christianity was not regularly taught. The other children, at that age, seemed to simply accept what they were told as fact. Adah considered what she was told before accepting it. I liked Adah because of her individuality and ability to really think about things before believing them.

I also liked that Adah was so different from her family and from others in the book. Each of the characters perceived the worlds in their own way, and were different from one another, but Adah’s differences were more interesting than the rest because she seemed to live and think in a completely different manner than the others. This is because she grew up unlike her siblings. She was raised in the same environment, but almost lived in a different place, in a sense, because she built her own world inside herself rather than really living in the house with her family.

When Adah grew up, she almost completely overcame the disabilities that plagued her throughout her young life. She learned to walk normally, as she could not when she was young, and began to speak as though she had never been silent. She also went to medical school and became a doctor, before she was even able to walk well. This is another aspect of Adah that I really like. She did not let the world keep her down because she was different. Even though she did succeed in life, she never completely lost who she was. She became more logical and slightly more normal, but was still, essentially, the same person.

Celie's growth in "The Color Purple"

Celie’s growth is evident in a number of ways throughout The Color Purple. In the beginning of the novel, Celie is very much a docile and battered woman with no voice or will of her own. She is afraid to express her own opinion and lives under the reign of a man. At first she is dominated by her step-father and then by her husband. Due to the abuse and sexual assaults Celie suffers throughout her life, she is afraid and submissive. However, as the novel progresses, she becomes strong and independent. Her growth is partly due to the cruelty she is subjected to. She is emotionally hardened and strengthened because of all that she endures during her lifetime.

As a child, Celie is sexually abused by her step-father and becomes pregnant twice. Her step-father takes the children from her, and Celie assumes that he kills them both. Celie has no control over her life or her body. This lack of control causes her to become passive, silent, and hidden inside of herself. This is the way that she learns to deal with the pain of the abuse. She begins to write letters to God because he is a distant and seemingly unresponsive figure. It is her only method of expression. She will not talk to any of the people who are around her and will not defend herself.

However, a major change in Celie’s character occurs when she meets Shug Avery. Shug is strong and independent. Celie not only looks up to her, but is also attracted to her. She begins to express her feelings to Shug and is able to speak for herself. Shug gives Celie advice and makes her feel that she is worth more than how she has been treated during her life. Shug also helps Celie in that she changes her vision of who God is. Celie previously viewed God as a domineering white male figure. Shug tells Celie to look at him in a more nontraditional sense, and this greatly helps in her religious growth.

Celie’s greatest growth occurs when she becomes enraged with her husband. She discovers that he has been hiding letters from her sister and, through reading these letters, discovers many things about her husband and step-father. This new knowledge of the wrongs that the two men have committed against her pushes her over the edge. All the emotions and pain that Celie has kept inside come to the surface in the form of anger. She finally defends herself against her husband’s abuse and control. Because of this, she is finally able to free herself from the grasp of an abusive man. She learns to accept herself as an individual outside of any relationship. She is able to express her own opinions and feelings. Celie is finally able to find happiness in her independence. Celie is a round character because she experiences many different situations throughout the novel. She has many dimensions and experiences a great amount of growth. She is able to come into herself as an individual and as a woman.

Tender Buttons

“In Tender Buttons and then on and on I struggled with the ridding myself of nouns, I knew nouns must go in poetry as they had gone in prose if anything that is everything was to go on meaning something. And so I went on with this exceeding struggle of knowing really knowing what a thing was really knowing it knowing anything I was seeing anything I was feeling so that its name could be something, by its name coming to be a thing in itself as it was but would not be anything just and only as a name” (242).

This quote, by Gertrude Stein, is the embodiment of her work, Tender Buttons. Anyone who has read Tender Buttons understands that it is not an easy task to decipher the meaning behind the odd and seemingly incoherent descriptions of objects. After first reading Stein’s book of poetry, it takes deep, insightful contemplation to figure out what the purpose of the entire work is. If one goes into reading Stein’s book after reading this quote, though, they may very well have a better grasp of the material and its purpose. It is a welcomed explanation of why Stein’s poetry was written in such a strange manner. There are many places throughout the book that exemplify Stein’s quote. Her experimentation with language and discovery is obvious in each of the poems contained in Tender Buttons.
The first poem in Stein’s collection is called A Carafe, that is a Blind Glass. It is evident simply from the title of the poem that Stein is experimenting with the use of nouns and her discovery what an object really is. She describes the carafe in the first line of the poem as “a kind in glass and a cousin”. This, really, doesn’t make any obvious sense. However, if one is aware of what Stein is trying to do with her poetry, the purpose of this statement is understandable. In her quote, Stein states that she “went on with this exceeding struggle of knowing really knowing what a thing was really knowing it”. By this, she means that she was attempting to discover what “a thing” is, aside from the usual understanding of it. For instance, a carafe can be much more than a drink container. Stein pushes this idea by describing a carafe in a way that no one would ever think to describe it. She is not only experimenting with language, but also experimenting with perception.
The first line in the poem “A Long Dress” is, “what is the current that makes machinery, that makes it crackle, what is the current that presents a long line and a necessary waist”. This is definitely not the way that the average person would think to describe a dress. Once again, though, Stein goal is to tear apart the norms of poetry and use of nouns. A very important line in Stein’s quote is, “its name coming to be a thing in itself as it was but would not be anything just and only as a name”. In addition to her experimentation, Stein is also trying to destroy the idea of what a thing is. She does this by, as earlier stated, describing objects in the way that she perceives them. She is, therefore, not even really describing the objects. Rather, she is describing her thoughts about objects.
Gertrude Stein’s overall purpose in writing Tender Buttons in such a way is stated in her quote. She is not simply telling what an object is, she is telling what is could be and what she thinks of it. This is explicated throughout her book of poetry. Although it is a difficult read, and is very difficult to understand what is meant by the descriptions, it is easy to see Stein’s purpose in writing this book in such a strange style when one reads her quote.

The Expatriates in Paris

The 1920s brought a significant influx of American artists and writers to the city of Paris, France (UNC Library). Unlike the many Americans who travel to Europe for a short vacation, these were there to stay. Some only lived in Paris for a few months, and some lived there for years (UNC Library). Although many other major cities in Europe were inhabited by these expatriates as well, Paris seemed to have the largest number of them. The appeal of Paris is obvious to anyone who has ever heard anything about its attractions, beauty, and apparent differences from American culture. These aspects, along with others, brought many of history’s most important authors to the City of Lights.
Some writers put themselves in a sort of self-exile from America because of prosecution, in one form or another (UNC Library). Some of the exiles were those “who chose to leave a homeland they considered artistically, intellectually, politically, racially, or sexually limiting or even oppressive” (UNC Library). As is still the case today, many saw Paris as a more liberated place, where the freedom to express oneself was welcomed rather than frowned upon like it was in America at that time.
One large movement of expatriates occurred from the end of World War I to the beginning of World War II (UNC Library). This was because of those who Gertrude Stein called “the Lost Generation”. These men and women were those who had been subject to the brutality and desolation of the war. It seems as though they were trying to find an escape from the world in which they had been living during World War I. They wanted to be free of the constant worries of attack and death, of themselves and loved ones. Some of these writers were Sherwood Anderson, Djuna Barnes, Samuel Beckett, Kay Boyle, John Dos Passos, Lawrence Durrell, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ford Madox Ford, H. D. (Hilda Doolittle), Ernest Hemingway, James Joyce, Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Ezra Pound, and Gertrude Stein (UNC Library). However, their escape from a world of terror ended when the Germans began their occupation of Paris in 1939 (UNC Library).
Many of the expatriates came to know each other and influence one another’s works. For example, Sylvia Beach, creator of Shakespeare and Company, became friends with James Joyce and published his novel (UNC Library). Ernest Hemingway had many acquaintance and friends in Europe, which shows in his novel The Sun Also Rises. Some of these writers were Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald (Mills). Each of these writers had an effect on one another’s works.
Once again, men and women throughout the United States (and the world, for that matter) were subjected to the hardships of war, when World War II began. Those who had lived through the first war had to survive through yet another one, and a new generation of “lost” people was born in those who were living though their first war. This brought another group of writers to Paris during the 1950s and 60s, after the end of World War II. These individuals came to be known as the “Beat Generation” (UNC Library). Among them were authors such as Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, and William Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, James Baldwin, and Chester Himes, and Richard Wright (UNC Library). These writers sought out the same freedoms that their predecessors did. They looked toward their elder writers as role models and followed the same escape route. Although it is doubtful that many of the authors who expatriated to France actually found freedom from the memories that haunted them, they did find a way to produce many of the most memorable and important works of literature.


"Genuises Together." UNC Library. UNC, Web. 25 Sep 2009. .

Mills, Ian. "Hemingway's Paris." Discover France. 1998-9. Discover France, Web. 25 Sep 2009. .

Roman Fever

The monuments that were mentioned in Edith Wharton’s Roman Fever were the Palace of the Caesars, the Colosseum, the Forum, and the Seven Hills. Each of these was mentioned at a fitting point in the story, in order to symbolize the feelings and actions that took place at a particular moment. Each monument has a meaning, and is intended to strengthen and emphasize the seemingly small circumstances that occur in the two women’s, Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade, lives. Edith Wharton does this by using the grand and magnificent ancient Roman structures as the foreground for the women’s conversation.

The Palace of the Caesars was mentioned when Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade “visualized each other, each through the wrong end of her little telescope”. The Palace of the Caesars represents the way the women view one another because of the Roman emperors that were housed there. The emperors were viewed in many different ways throughout their reign, just as many rulers have been throughout the entirety of history. When they come to reign, many view them as good and just. However, this perspective changes over time when the people who are being reigned over really come to know the leader. Although the two women do not have a relationship similar to leaders and their people, they do come to gain different perspectives of each other as time passes.

The Colosseum is mentioned most often throughout the story, and is the most important monument. It first comes up when the women’s daughters leave them to go on a plane ride with a couple of young men they met. The Colosseum represents romance and strife because it is where Mrs. Ansley had an affair with Mrs. Slade’s husband and conceived her daughter. This is mentioned later in the story. The Colosseum is a grand amphitheatre where many gruesome deaths took place for the amusement and entertainment of others. Mrs. Slade sent Mrs. Ansley there in the hopes that she would become ill from being out in the cold, and be unable to steal her future husband from her. Mrs. Slade’s plan backfired, though, and it was she who was wronged. The Colosseum is meant to show the great significance that the women played in one another’s lives.

The next monument in the Roman Fever is The Forum. Mrs. Slade asks Mrs. Ansley if she is afraid of the cold, as it is becoming night, and she says that it is not cold where they are, but it is in the Forum. The Forum was used, in ancient Rome, as a place for political gatherings. It comes up just before Mrs. Slade confronts Mrs. Ansley about her going to meet with Mrs. Slade’s future husband at the Colosseum. It is meant to represent the gathering that the two women are having, which can almost be construed as a political one in a sense. They are not truly friends and only meet because their paths cross so often.

The last monument is the Seven Hills. It is mentioned toward the end, when the two women have revealed to each other their knowledge of the affair. The Seven Hills has religious significance in Roman history. This may be significant to the story because of the talk of marriage that occurs just before the Hills are mentioned.