Postmodernism can be a difficult period of literature to define. However, we can learn about postmodernism by looking at certain features and recurring themes that occur in postmodernist literature.
Our first main objective for this unit was to identify the key characteristics and features of postmodernism. Some of these characteristics of postmodernist literature that we saw in these texts included the following:
- Author as a character
- Questioning of values
- Unreliable narrators
- Narrative shifts
- Distortion of time
- Distortion of reality
Our second main objective for this unit was to identify the key themes in the readings for this unit:
- What does it mean to be human?
- Why are there such different sides to human nature?
- What distinguishes humans from animals?
- How can we prove that truth exists?
- Does faith still have value?
William Blake's two poems, "The Tyger" and "The Lamb," discussed the natures of these two very different creatures, questioning how they could come from the same creator. Remember that Blake's title for his book of poetry was Songs of Innocence and Experience: Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul. From this title, it is clear that both poems are an analogy for the two sides that can be seen in human beings.
Frank Stockton's short story, "The Lady, or the Tiger?" also questions human nature. Although the princess in the story loves the young man, she is passionately jealous of the young lady who waits at one of the two doors in the arena. She suspects this young lady of trying to lure the princess's lover away from her. The story poses a riddle that is an enigma: "The more we reflect upon this question, the harder it is to answer. It involves a study of the human heart which leads us through devious mazes of passion, out of which it is difficult to find our way." From this story, we learn that human nature can be jealous, devious, and deceptive.
Through Life of Pi, we examined the characteristics of postmodernist literature as explained in our first objective, above, as well as how human nature is portrayed in Life of Pi. Above all, Life of Pi both questions whether truth and faith exist, yet the novel does not completely dismiss either. Instead, it ends by posing this key question to the reader: "Which story do you prefer? Which is the better story, the story with animals or the story without animals?" (Martel 317).
After you have reviewed all the readings and Lessons 1 through 9, you are ready to take the quiz. This is a link to the quiz:
Unit Quiz over Postmodernism
Unit Quiz over Postmodernism
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