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Linda Hutcheon once described postmodernism as “a fundamentally contradictory enterprise: its art forms (and its theory) at once use and abuse, install and then destabilize convention in parodic ways” (A Poetics of Postmodernism, 23). This literature does not believe in originality and it does not have much faith in its own power to offer redemption in a world of make-belief, fantasy and crude market economy. Postmodern literature loves and it hates the entertainment industry, it kills the author and celebrates the reader, mapping zones of conflict between art and the world that have brought forth vibrant forms of popular culture. This lecture offers an introduction into postmodern literature and theory in North America and it invites participants to evaluate for themselves whether the most recent literature and popular culture can still be called postmodern. Requirement for successful completion: passing two quizzes (mid- and end of term). A reader with the relevant reading material will be made available at the copy-shop in the Reckhammerweg in the second week of the term. |
