My Beef with Post-Modernism...

So... since we're just about done with the semester, in lots of my classes we're reading/discussing more recent literature/cultural stuff. You know how in American History class in high school, you start with Plymouth Rock and then end with a quick overview of the 90s? Well, that's where I'm at in my British Drama, Spanish Literature, and Spanish Culture and Civilization Classes. All of them are survey classes, so they cover a wide range of time, and now, of course, we are at the most contemporary stuff. Therefore, we're talking a lot about "post-modern" ideas.

I've learned a lot about the whole post-modern era. First of all, I think the name "post-modern" is an intellectually pretentious term. Haha, but that's besides the point. Basically, in a nutshell, post-modernism refers to an era in art, literature, philosophy, etc. (beginning in the late 1950s, maybe?) in which things are broken apart... things aren't looked at in traditional ways. A black spot on a canvas is no longer a black spot on a canvas... the order of things is turned around... traditional form/order/thought no longer applies, or is highly questioned. Ok, that's a somewhat vague description, but maybe that's why you can understand why I get a little tired of trying to study it.

Basically, I just don't get it. Ok, yeah, I understand the concept of analyzing things and seeing them in a new light. But as we talked about in my Spanish Culture and Civ. class... breaking things apart and criticizing gets old. I guess I just have a hard time wrapping my head around the ideas of "post-modernism" and appreciating them the way I appreciate earlier periods in literature/art... overall, I just don't like it.

I'm glad people are trying to be innovative, but art now seems to be so much more than just artistic ability. That has both positive and negative consequences... cause a guy who can paint amazing landscapes, but who doesn't expell some incredible meaning behind each color and line, has less of a chance of making it as an artist nowadays. Something just seems a little odd about that to me. At the same time, I think it's interesting that art is now more than just a painting, it has a more complex meaning. That is kind of interesting in its own rite, I guess.

Some of the stuff I've read/watched for my classes from this era has been WEIRD... I guess that's what's kept me thinking about it.

Any thoughts?