Postmodernism and Postmodern Literature - Essay Example

Postmodernism and postmodern literature A series of reactions against the ideology of modern literature rose post World War II, which represent a break from the 19th century realism and was came to known as postmodern literature. It is the answer to the crisis of legitimacy caused by the united experience of modernity. Postmodernism separate the private and the public, which were unified in modernism. Modernism reveals truths about the world through language and that became a challenged to postmodernism because it does not propagate that language has the power to reveal truths about the world. Postmodernism has an idea that language is a glass through which everything can be seen. But it explores fragmentariness in narrative and characterization. Deconstruction was emerged as a feature of postmodernism where a text can be interpreted in more than one way. The other feature is post-structuralism which states that the signs are unstable in any piece of work. In America post-modernism is a broad concept and many authors have worked hard to this concept. (Arac, 1996) There were certain writers who have made a niche out of the usual postmodern traits and among them names like John Barth, Thomas Pynchon, Robert Coover, Donald Barthelme, Ishmael Reed, Don DeLillo, Robert Lowell are worth mention. Helen Vendler said, “Robert Lowell is truly called a post modernist as his works mostly deal with the postmodern ideology with great aplomb. His distinct style of writing forced the readers to read in new ways. His works generate conspiracy theories and paranoia with ease.” (Vendler, 1995, pp. 13-17) Selected works of Robert Lowell The poetic genius of Robert Lowell changed the course of English-language poetry in postmodern literature. The power of Lowell’s poetic voice and the daring of his stylistic innovations made him the preeminent American poet of his generation. He won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for Lord Weary’s Castle (1946) in which he mastered the style of metrical complexity and verbal vagueness. Through this perfect style Lowell criticized modern civilization, war, materialism, and misused authority. In this book of poetry Lowell perfected the combination of traditional values and the criticism of American policy of war. Most of the poem in this book expresses catastrophic anger that threatens every possibility of assertion. Poems like The scythers, Time and Death, Helmed locusts, move upon the tree of breath clearly convey the idea of post-modernism. (Rudman, 1983) ‘The Quaker Graveyeard in Nantucket’ is one of the poems included in Lord Weary Castle. The central idea of the poem is the pursuit of Captain Ahab for a giant whale. In this poem Lowell assured elegy to his cousin, Warren Winslow. The style of the poem is so sound that the texture of the lines is like an ambitious arm stretching fully out. The whole poem reverberates with the cry of justice for his cousin’s death. (Hamilton, 1982) In poem ‘Memories of West Street and Lepke’ Lowell admitted his innately violent impulses in his childhood but assumed a non-violent position during the World War II. The poem deals with Lowell’s remarkable transformation. David Kalstone, a critic, states that the experiences of Lowell give the poem its special atmosphere. He explained, "The language in the poem makes the reader to think about the dragon of a father and the roseate daughter young enough to be his granddaughter, about a passage of vitality." "The poem rightly describe the domesticity of 1950s, failed ideology of the middle age," said Kalstone. (Kalstone, 1987, pp.91-93) ‘Skunk Hour’ is included in Lowell’s book Life Studies (1959) and was dedicated to poet Elizabeth Bishop, whom Lowell fantasized marrying. It is clear from the line "Thirsting for / the hierarchic privacy / of Queen Victoria's century, / she buys up all / the eyesores facing her shore, / and lets them fall." Mainly the poem deals with the decaying of social structure after World War II. Lowell describing it in more than scenery way with a jarring intrusion of the modern and the outside world which is set against the decay of the passing age. Lowell makes it clear that the decay of culture and social structure of the passing age were not being killed from outside but form within oneself. In a critical appreciation of Skunk Hour poem Paul Breslin opined, “The poet here expressed the confessional mirrors of public and private in symmetrical division into four stanzas, describing the social environment. The other four deals with the poet's dark night of voyeurism and incipient madness.” In an essay on the composition of the poem Lowell said that he wrote the first four stanzas of Skunk Hour about himself first. Then about another four about his surroundings in which he interprets the private suffering as only one more symptom of a pervasive cultural breakdown. (Breslin, 1987, pp. 68-70) The four stanzas of the poem are just loitering about in which its direction sinks out of sight into the casual. After that all comes alive when the poet describes the decaying of the present age, which is powerless to prevent the temporal and social disintegration. The style and tone of ‘Skunk Hour’ is amiable. The poet correctly upholds the image of skunks with all their infusion of energy and life. This represents the image of decay, a grim desolation. The first person style creates true sense of ambiguity, the lines, “I myself am hell/ nobody's here -- only skunks” effectively sumps up Lowell’s phrase "Existentialist night". (Breslin, 1987, pp. 68-70) Lowell was very much politically involved in the early 1960s. He was associated with Robert Kennedy and Jaqueline Kennedy as well as Senator Eugene McCarthy. His political association is clearly visible in his poem ‘For the Union Dead’ (1964). The poem describes the miserable culture that promotes the dreadful possibility of nuclear annihilation. Here the poet compares the idealist past with the present decayed political and social environment. The poem represents a sense of regret without giving any details of what. This is the reason that it lacks vividness of the structure. Even the clarity of meaning and expression is not evident. The poem strongly instills a sense of hopelessness through imagery and metaphors. Lowell’s mental instability is clearly evident in this poem. The use of ambiguity in ‘For the Union Dead’ makes it the subject of criticism and that’s boost its credibility. (Breslin, 1987, pp. 68-70) Helen Vendler said, “In this poem Lowell has put together some events of public history as existing solely in commemorative art and compares it with the metaphysical immortality like that of Shaw.” Vendler feels that here Lowell has realize that corruption destroys everything even the inner life of a prophet get affected. (Vendler, 1995, pp.13-17) In poem ‘Walking Early Sunday Morning’ (1967) Lowell captured the crisis in Vietnam as he supports the anti-war demonstrators. The poem deals with the loneliness and responsibility of America whose imperial ambition forced it to police the whole world. Lowell’s last book published was Day by Day (1997) which won him the National Book Critics Circle Award prize for poetry in 1977. This book is the ultimate one that established Robert Lowell’s reputation as one of the great poet of the century. The book is a collection of poems that summarize Lowell’s experience of post World War II scenario. This book is a refined work of Lowell, which contributed a great deal towards the development of poetry in America. (Rudman, 1983) Day by Day has totally changed style as the lofty rhetoric become deepened, softened and distinct. The book is autobiographical in nature which deals with Lowell’s broken marriages, his experiences of politics and religion, and so on. In this book Lowell used free verse like he had done in his early works. Robert Lowell’s Collected Prose is an attempt to reassess his poetry and to re-stimulate critical thinking about it. His prose focuses on the texts so that it could invite questions and discussion about the work. Lowell also did translation, which appeared in Imitation (1961). He did the translations of Leopardi, Rimbaud, Montale, Heine, Rilke, Pasternak and other major European poets. Lowell- a post modernist Robert Lowell was no doubt a poet of unusual stature who won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize at the age of 29. Lowell combined rebellion and tradition, formalism and experiment and that makes him to achieve a disciplined wildness. According to Randall Jarrell the poems of Lowell are full of intensity, which is equaled by their degree of organization. He states, “Lowell has the capability to exaggerate the strength and life, the constant richness and surprise of metaphor.” He added, “Lowell’s poetry vividly deals with the sound and motion of the language and that makes his lines noticeable.” He breaks form the ideals of modernism and brought poetry down to the soil of everyday life. It is very much clear from his book Life Studies. In the book the line “I myself am hell;/ nobody’s here” so wonderfully traces the life course of the poet. His works deal with everyday crises, complexities and vulnerabilities of people like him in this unhappy world. Through his poetry Lowell teach a new reason for the existence of life. (Procopiow,1984) Postmodernist often used a term ‘tabulation’ to say ‘fable’, in which the characters are comparatively undeveloped and the main emphasis falls on the story’s meaning. In this case the poet has to depend on another literary work or ‘intertextuality’, which is largely seen in Lowell’s Imitations (1961). (Fowler, 1991) Fragmentation is an important feature of postmodernism in which a frequent corollary of discontinuity has been fragmented into small structural units. It is well evident in Lowell’s Notebook (1969) where Lowell repeatedly changed the sequence that should be thought imitative of the external world in any direct way. He changed the sequence first by revision and addition, and then by comprehensive reordering in History (1973). Lowell’s individual epigrams are so vivid and clear that it often touch the nerve of individual experience. (Fowler, 1991) It is true that Lowell has revived poetry through complexities and interpretations of language, self and community. Vendler thinks that Lowell's poetry is 'more centrally about life'. She explained, “Most of his works expressed the life in its true sense which goes against common sense.” Commenting on his poetry Lowell said, “It represent a breakthrough back into life and thus reflect the period after World War II.” Vendler said that Lowell's poetry explores its relationship with the pysche and environment that created it. She feels, "These grew in complexity and grace with the growth of Lowell's career." (Vendler, 1995, pp. 13-17) Lowell’s works represent a philosophic acceptance of life and the world through a new form of language rich in symbolism and technical skill. Lowell’s works clearly mentions his reactions to the events that had happened after the World War II. His works also mentions his thoughts on American history as well as family. Kalstone expressed, "Lowell's work deals with such detailed and scenes that invite the readers to draw comparisons and contrasts." He added, "Lowell pictures himself as becalmed but his poem deals with the vital chore of unremitting interrogation." (Kalstone,1987, pp.91-93) The poems of Robert Lowell opens up the life of the poet and that inspire many other poets till date. Lowell brought new criticism and confessional poetry in the period when the modern ideology was in rampant. His achievements in this respect are remembered even today. Bidart, a critic, said Lowell has made great changes in the text of Life Studies, which was a great improvement. (Bidart, 2003) According to Bidart Lowell is a ‘maker’, as he was always willing to rethink his work. The success of Lowell’s poetry lies in its double and interlocutor set up. Lowell was the most interesting poet of the twentieth century as his works lacks combination of formal procedures and ideological underpinnings. For example the sound of Life Studies has become the sound of authenticity in American poetry. (Bidart, 2003) Lowell works rejects artifice and forged the natural idiom. His works became so influential that other poets learn a great deal with it. Lowell’s style always in the service of sensibility. It has flattened rhythms and transforms the style into all-purpose way of sharing experiences. Later, this became a way of inhabiting the language of American poetry. According to Bidart Lowell exclaimed that dim confession, coy revelation is his imitation of himself. Bidart said, “Lowell’s poetry is confessional but not confession.” He added that only handful of poets including Lowell, who had created the taste by which they were judged. Lowell’s Collected Poems, liberates the poetry from the true identity of the poet. It throws light on Lowell not as a single one but more than one person at the same time. (Bidart, 2003) Lowell’s technique and style Lowell knows the art of playing with words and thus creates such a simple yet stylish language. He perfectly fits the qualification of post-modernist as his works indicates the presence of contradictory fragmented voices and a heightened sense of playfulness. Post modernism also stands for ‘metafiction’, fiction-about-fiction, but its hardly followed by the writers of this era. Postmodernism is an effort to questions the truth, reality and other abstraction. (Bidart, 2003) Lowell’s writing techniques makes the language a devouring self-reflexivity in which both subject and object failed to mediate. This raises inclination to predicate the material autonomy of the verbal medium detached from a consciousness. And it is very evident in Notebook. Lowell’s writing express a passionate desires to press limits and extend possibilities. There is an insistence that language penetrate a compulsion to fathom the mystery that links subject and object, person and person, word and thing in a constructive way so that real meaning carried out smoothly. (Gelpi, 1990, pp.517-541) In conclusion postmodernism defines the postmodern theories of language, race and gender. After World War II many fascinating variety of writing has been produced based on these theories, which help to understand the social, economic as well as political scenario of the powerful country. Robert Lowell’s works neither contaminated by culture nor by theory nor by any other theory that surrounds it. The method Lowell use to write poetry is both critical and biographical which included searching of new English writers. The above discussion clearly establishes Robert Lowell as a postmodernist in its true sense. His works left behind the monumental narrative of a career, which generates curiosity and remembered longer just like Yeats, Milton and others. Lowell’s struggle with history, personality and language gives birth to so many unforgettable poems with courage and pathos. Work Cited Breslin, Paul, (1987), The Psycho-Political Muse: American Poetry Since the Fifties (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 1987), pp. 68-70. Bidart, Frank, (2003), ‘Collected Poems’, by Robert Lowell, 2003. David Kalstone, (1987), "The Uses of History," in Robert Lowell, ed. Harold Bloom (New York: Chelsea House, 1987), pp. 91-93. Fowler, Alastair, (1991), ‘Postmodernism’ From A History of English Literature, Harvard University Press, 1991) http://www.westga.edu/~gfraser/Postmodernism%20-%20Fowler.doc Gelpi, Albert, (1990), "The Genealogy of Postmodernism: Contemporary American Poetry" from The Southern Review, Summer 1990, pp. 517-541. http://www.writing.upenn.edu/~afilreis/88/gelpi.html Hamilton, Ian, (1982), Robert Lowell, a biography. NY: Random House. Arac, Jonathan, (1996), Postmodernism and Politics, University of Minnesota. Procopiow, Norma, (1984), Robert Lowell, the poet and his critics. Chicago: American Library Association. Rudman, Mark, (1983), Robert Lowell, an introduction to the poetry. NY: Columbia UP. Vendler, Helen, (1995), The Given and the Made: Strategies of Poetic Redefinition (Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 1995), pp.13-17. Read More