Understanding Postmodernism.

CONCEPT

The definition and situation of "postmodernism" has been an indirect question for me ever since I began artistic pursuits and more directly since college (1997). Now, with our present work on Gothic Funk being formally explained as measured against and responding to the "postmodern project" many of us should develop a more rigorous, critical understanding of this movement.

With that in mind, I'd like to open up an informal discussion on the subject here on Blue Skies Falling. The discussion will center around the article on "Modernism and Postmodernism" from The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics by Alex Preminger, Terry V.F. Brogan, and Frank J. Warnke. It has been an invaluable resource to me in recent years, and this particular essay is both lucid enough to follow and does justice to the complexity and rigor of the questions at hand.

The discussion will take place as follows:

Monday through Friday I will post, in sequence, one sentence from the discussion. In the comments we will discuss the assumptions, issues, possibilities, parameters, and references within each sentence.

This is intended to be a progressive discussion, in the sense that we will refer to past entries as needed. As such, our understanding of the subject will grow entry by entry and week by week. By the end of summer anyone who has participated throughout ought to be able to fairly claim a disciplined and detailed (if not comprehensive) understanding of "modernism and postmodernism."

Look for it tomorrow. Any other suggestions or comments, post here or send from here.

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