Enlightenment Age to Post-Modernism - Essay Example

?Oenga World literature Dec.12, Various historical and cultural eras from Enlightenment age to Post-Modernism This research work seeks to explore various historical and cultural eras in the world’s history right from the age of enlightenment up to the period of post modernism. In addition, the paper will want to identify and define each era: Enlightenment, Romanticism, Modernism and post modernism. It will Identify and discuss the historical, political, and cultural forces that define each era, show how each era is similar to and distinct from the era preceding it and briefly tackle a discourse on method in the enlightenment era. These and many more will be featured here. The enlightenment era is a period in world’s history that stretches between seventeenth century and early eighteenth century. This age is sometimes referred to as the age of reason. It was a period considered to be the maturity of reason after its rebirth in the renaissance period. It was marked by new discoveries in science for example Galileo Galilei invention of a telescope that he used to discover and accept that indeed Copernican was right in saying that the sun was at the centre and that all planet revolve round it. Rational or intellectual capabilities and a rise in technology were among the many characteristics of this age. It was dramatized with revolutions (The English revolutions and the French revolution). Industrial revolution for instance marked a total change in lifestyle whereby we see a movement from manual labor to mechanical labor. People’s life standard improved since they could be employed to work in these industries and earn income. It is during this time that we see the rise in thinking; a change in societal, cultural and political attitudes. It is during this time that we see the society producing intellectuals who emphasize on reason alone. Scientific philosophies like the empiricism and rationalism became the focal point of departure. Philosophers like Rene Descartes, Leibniz, David Hume and Emmanuel Kant among others emerge. Their main focus was to move the society from centralized church governance to a level where every individual’s life counts; that the church’s authority needed to be decentralized. It is during this time that we see the ant Christian movements: a claim that God having created the Universe left it alone to be controlled by natural laws. In relation to the above point, the book, Discourse on Method, written by Rene Descartes, establishes a clear methodology of thinking which he calls deductive reasoning whereby one begins by doubting everything until he can no more doubt his own existence “Cogito Ergo Sum,” meaning “I think, therefore I am.” The fact that I doubt everything, I cannot doubt my own existence. However, as the great period of enlightenment continued, it faced a lot of rebellion from the emerging group of people who were against the principles of strict adherence to logic and clarity This deviation from restraint, clarity, and reason resulted in the beginning of the Romantic Age in English literature. From the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, Romanticism came into play as the major form of literary expression of the time. The Romantic view emphasized emotion, nature, mysteriousness, and self discovery, among others. The idea is that every one needed to learn and interpret reality according to his or her own experience; rather avoid thinking with our own heads high, everything is not about ideas. Jane Eyre clearly demonstrates this romanticism in her own experiences, first, mystery in the red room which later helps her to realize herself discovery a thing that unfolds the truth in order for her to find a better place in this world. She clearly portrays a kind of woman who breaks and gets out of women slavery and conformity of the society and indeed moves to take up bigger roles and responsibilities out of her own independence and separation from the traditions of the society. She is a great figure of the romantic age since she shows how mystery, self discovery and independence can lead one to true knowledge. They held that science was objectifying history and thereby leading us to lose our own identity and individuality. The crisis between the romantics and the modernists led to a lot of upheavals in church and the state. There was a need to re-organize the church’s authority for it was too far from the people that it served. The state on the other hand needed to sign contracts with its people and to have a single ruler with the rule of law at the top of everything. There was also a revolution in trade and empires. Trade was commercialized and more industries built to accommodate the growing raw materials. New methods of transportation and easy ways of connecting from Europe, Africa and America were improvised. This made it easy to bring goods and slaves from Africa to America to provide cheap labor in the industries. In the book by Aiken: The Novel as Form, Three Decades of William Faulkner, depicts a poem that uses a stylistic language that indicates reality outside our mind therefore showing that this work surpasses regional limits (134). In one of the articles from the internet, “A rose for Emily and a good man is hard” to find,” Faulkner is seen as a poet of the human condition, who portrays the strivings of individuals against alienation and loss of values. That both men and women deserve equal treatment. In the two fiction stories:"A Rose for Emily “and” A Good Man Is Hard to find,” the writer uses different language expressions to show how language connects with reality. Language refers to and represents a reality outside itself. Postmodernism on the contrary, holds that there is a need for deconstruction of all the theories of the totalitarianism and hence every individual locate his or her own place and space in order to understand reality as it unfolds. In the representational theory, the post modernist tells us that language represents the world or rather mirrors the world. This is clearly seen in Rene Magritte, s artistic writing and symbols in her work: this is not a pipe whereby she identifies words with the essence of things. In the same way with Marilyn’s attraction by Warhol in her artistic photographic work which shows us that language and its objects are inseparable. To conclude, the enlightenment period marked a beginning of re-a wakening; a period of reason and discovery. Romantic period on other hand brought the idea of an individual rather than totalitarianism whereby every person counts. This is where we realize the power of a woman who has strived to move from the constraints and conformity of the society to take up bigger roles. And finally, the periods that follows: modern and the post modern periods also emphasize the power of an individual more than that of reason as the only way reality can be known. Work Cited Aiken, C. The Novel as Form, Three Decades of William Faulkner. Ed. by Linda Wagner, Michigan: Michigan State University Press 1973. “A rose for Emily and a good man is hard to find” 1st Dec. 2012 < http://www.ukessays.com/essays/european-studies/a-rose-for-emily-and-a-good-man-is-hard-to-find.php#ixzz2DpBI9Dpj> Read More