Postmodernism

Transcendentalism & Anti-Transcendentalism Transcendentalism is a literary movement that believes that truth exist beyond reason, hard evidence or experience. The followers of this movement, the transcendentalists, believed that it was time for America to have its own form of literature, and these writings were made very different from those found in other parts of the world. There are 5 themes common in works of transcendentalism. They are Nonconformity, Self-Reliance, Freethought, Confidence,…

If the output of interdisciplinary dialog between psychology, art history and aesthetics was to offer a more open-ended notion of ornament, one that mediates an aesthetic “vitality”, it would still be up to artists and architects at the time to debate over what was the “vitality” that to be conveyed, what role did the artist play in this mediation and ultimately what value would this creation possess. The inherent “modern” characteristic of such a vitality was closely intertwined with everyday…

For many years, high schools have been requiring their students to read the novel, The Great Gatsby, written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. The novel takes place in the early 1920s, and it has been used to teach students about life in America during the 1920s. Many people believe The Great Gatsby is the “Great American Novel.” For example, in Christopher Hitchens’ essay, The Road To West Egg, he states that he believes that this novel “outlives its abysmal weaknesses”. On the other hand, in H. L.…

Postmodern picture books are often designed by authors and illustrators “who deliberately work against a linear storytelling pattern” (Wolfenbarger and Sipe, 2007, p. 275). Characteristically, postmodern picture books have a non-linear storyline, encompass a socio-cultural or political concern, and allow students to actively engage by encouraging the construction of meaning from the interplay between visual imagery and text, resulting in narrative construction. The postmodern picture book…

The modernist era of art began in the late 19th century and last until around the middle of the 20th century. Some of the important artists of this time were Marcel Duchamp, Pablo Picasso, and Salvador Dalí. Postmodernism began in the 1960s, however the term was not predominantly applied to the movement until the 1970’s mainly with architecture, but when it comes to paintings and other such art the term did not come to fruition until the mid 1980s. Some of the important artists of this movement…

Reason and faith There are some clear differences between postmodernists and Christians. For example, the postmodern societies divide reason and faith from each other. Modernism seeks knowledge on the basis of human reason and investigation alone; you can work from a neutral starting-point and build upwards to truth. Accepting anything on trust is unnecessary and irrational. This is because they believe that there is a rational reason for things occurring, with scientific backing. Reasoning is…

Parallel to those of the Iranian revolution, this group of people was driven by political concerns of the society and eventually turned their political problems to religion. This movement was initiated by Hassan al-Banna, an ordinary religious scholar whose foundation of political activism was rooted in Islamic values. It was also Egyptian youths, who continued to take a critical role in the Muslim Brotherhood movement in Egypt through the 1970s. When President Sadat was becoming a target of…

. Although theses three modern styles varied, the works involved all occupied a new and more complex space. Mel Gooding explains this as a ‘trend in modern art away from the representation of recognisable objects in pictorial space and towards presentation of a painting or sculpture as a real object in real space.’ Up until this time the pictorial space created in the art work aimed to create the illusion of a real pictorial space for the spectator. The technique of one point perspective which…

“This is infinitely disappointing,” remarks a young man, in a bored tone, standing before one of the world’s most recognizable paintings. “Monsieur, surely you realize that is Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa you have slandered,” retorts a rather indignant Frenchman. The young tourist turns. “Oh, I know.” He shoots back flippantly. “I thought it would be more impressive, less boring.” He adds offhandedly. The Frenchman smiles to himself. “I believe Da Vinci’s Lady would say the same things about you.” He…

[1] The year is 1976 and the world of art was reaching a point of stagnation. After a wave of postmodern art, the two art forms that had prevailed were conceptualism and minimalism. Art historian Jordana Saggese describes this era and notes that conceptualism focused on planning and placed little emphasis on the execution and minimalism produced art with minimal design put behind the work’s actual appearance (67). In a time where these ideals were king, many contemporary artists accepted the…