DC00385860
Assignment 1: Part 1
Postmodernism,
is directly linked to the social and historical events after World War ll and
to the technological advancements in the
world. Firstly it rejects modernism and the Enlightenment’s theory on the
subject and self. Internet technology has increased the speed of communication
and created a global community. According To Jameson, he gives a ‘Marxist
analysis on postmodernism and is realistically stating that the 'contemporary
world reflects a new economy-post industrial capitalism.’ Jameson emphasizes
that a global economy is governed by ‘multinational corporations beyond
government control; which creates depthlessness, the image/simulacrum; and the weakening
of Historicity.’ (Jameson 1991) Thus technological advancement has created the
need for a new way of thinking; by drawing on these advancements; it rejects
modernist tendencies or creates extreme forms. ‘Postmodernist thought is
characterized by a principled skepticism about language, truth, causality,
history and subjectivity …it rejects New critism, critical theory and
Psychoanalysis.’ (Castle 2007:145) Yet according to Currie ‘Postmodernists maintain a
stance of incredulity with respect to master narratives ,the unifying and
totalizing discourses…Helgian and Marxian teleological narratives … embraces
the unpredictable …binary functions have little or no relevance to Postmodern
techniques…’ (Castle 2007:145)
What
is evident is that the linguistics, and semiotic methods of discourses are
still the same ,but language is being deconstructed and reanalyzed in terms of
intertextuality .As according to Castle ,‘The postmodern is caught up in the
presentation of the unpresentable,that which can be ignored, occluded or
repressed.’(Castle 2007:145) This is directly linked to Globalization, which is
directly linked to finance and technology and the worldwide fluidity of the
transfer of information and shall look at Baudrillard and his theory on
Simulations (1981) and of how mass media and globalization affect our perception
of reality. To begin with Baudrillard is examining how technology has created
multiple images, simulations of the real object. He is arguing that the
simulation of reality has taken over the distinction of the real. It is through
mass media that this simulation is made real and becomes a hyperreality within
culture and society globally. ‘The hypereal is the abolition of the real not by
violent distinction, but by its assumption elevation to the strength of the
model.' (Malpas 2005:93) Thus Baudrillard
argues in his work on ‘The Ecstasy of Communication’(1988)That a human has become so absorbed in information
and communication that they become ‘schizo’, in terms of that they are being
constantly subconsciously influenced by mass media and technology, that they
are unaware of this influence. Therefore they accept this hyperrealist as the norm.
The Precession of Simulacra is evidently referring to the way that a
simulacrum has preceded the real. A prime example of this is his example of how
Disneyland, ‘which exists in order to disguise the fact that it itself the
‘real’ America.’
(Castle 2007:200) Thus Disneyland has preceded
the real object and shows the precession of simulacra. I shall look at
Baudrillard and the hyper reality of films in my critical analysis later but
secondly I shall look at Derrida .Baudrillard is primarily concerned with the
visual concept of hyperreality while Derrida examines language and
deconstruction and how ‘it constitutes meaning through a lay of differences,
the slippage or ‘spacing’ of the signifier.’ (Castle2007:80)
In ‘Jacques
Derrida -Essay "Structure, Sign and Play in the Discourse of the Human
sciences"(1966) Derrida’s essay is questioning the idea of center, in order
makes us examine the concept of centering as a balance in a structured
environment. It is essentially asking the reader to deconstruct the text .This
process is looking for a new dimension in particular at reading texts .Social
and historical events in essence favour this concept as a new way of reading.
To look beyond the text is inevitably asking us to embrace intertextuality and the
metanarrative.Thus what this process does as according to Barry; it produces
'textual harassment' or 'oppositional reading'. in 'pursuance of its aims ,the
deconstruction process will often fix on a detail of the text which looks
incidental -the presence of a particular metaphor ,for instance and then
use it as the key to the whole text, so that everything is read through
it....The deconstructionist looks for evidence of gaps and discontinuities of
all kinds. '(Barry 2009:71) I shall investigate the three stages of
deconstructive practice later in my analysis and it will be in direct reference
to metafiction.
‘Metafiction
novels tend to be constructed on the principle of a fundamental and sustained opposition:
the construction of a fictional illusion and the laying bare of that illusion.
In other words, the lowest common denominator of metafiction is simultaneously
to create a fiction and to make a statement about the creation of that fiction.
The two processes are held together in a formal tension which breaks down the
distinction between 'creation' and 'criticism' and merges them into the
concepts of 'interpretations 'and 'deconstruction.' (Waugh 1996:6)Therefore
what this process is doing is making us look at postmodern narrative and how it
reflects on itself as a fictional text. In Puig’s novel it will become evident
that this process is making us examine the metadiscourse of what the underlying
statement of the text is about; here Puig’s fight is political and sexual
oppression. This is also directly linked to Judith Butlers work on ‘Gender as a
Performance.’ The performance in the text is absorbed in the hypereality of the
film clips in, The Kiss of a Spider Woman. In her paper Gender Trouble (1990:25)
she is arguing that: 'There is no gender identity behind the expressions of
gender; ... identity is performatively constituted by the very
"expressions" that are said to be its results.' (Butler 1990:25) Thus
she is arguing that gender is a performance which is essentially dictated by
the rules of society and how we should perform as the male and female sex in a
patriarchal hegemonic society. Butler argues that we all perform gender roles
and therefore reinforce this identity and she is asking us challenge this
identity .In Puig’s novel it shall be evident that this gender role is
challenged by Molina and ultimate the conversion of Valentin’s hard edged male identity.
I shall explore these theoretical concepts next in an analysis of Manuel Puig’s
novel, Kiss Of The Spider Woman.
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