Postmodernism Art and Cognitive Mapping - Essay Example

Postmodernism Art and Cognitive Mapping Postmodernism, literally mean "after the modern", was originally used in architectural premises. The ongoingevolution of art in general produced this form of art, if not being influenced merely by it. Postmodern art apparently followed after the "modern art". It is a respond to the modernism era, and encompasses many forms of art thus it acquired its controversial status in art form (Honderich 1995). This significant form gained numerous criticisms with its nature. They said that postmodern art had attempted to be a boundary between high class and mass media material and that won't be able to serve its definite purpose with its ambiguity (Landa 2004). In its particular form, postmodernism was used in identifying pluralistic style in various arts, such as painting, music, philosophy, literature and even films. It directly contradicts and revolting against the "pretensions of high modernism" art (Honderich 1995). Usually, the form is taken as a basis for critical theory of certain work primarily architectural, then later on in literature and designs. It was historically regarded that this was formed by architectural movement to emphasis their dissatisfaction to modernism form (Britannica 2004). Its flexibility proven as it stretched its horizon and encompasses as well cultural description, constitutional interpretation, business and marketing. They are described as a revival of the traditional elements in designing, and techniques (Merriam-Webster 2004). In its easiest description, postmodern art abandons the political advocacy for particular principle that modern art had been known of. Francis Berry, in his work Art of the Eye and Mind (2007), described this form and its occurrence as "the political ideals that fueled modernism had given way to profound disillusionment with abhorrent wars such as Vietnam, ultra-utilitarian architecture, and academic minimalism". Along with this, Barry explained that postmodernism "undermines the manipulative aspect of ideologies by exposing the artificiality of style" (Barry 2007). However, this study deals on the postmodernism significance to assess certain literary works, as well as its certain role and effectiveness in delivering considerable points of the works. Frederic Jameson's Theory. Although Jean-Francois Lyotard, Jean Baudillard, and Jacques Derrida were the primary thinkers of the Postmodernism, it was Frederic Jameson who came up with lucid principle of the movement. In Jameson's work "Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism", it was then analyzed that his theory is formulated with an integration of Marxist theory, known as the basis of the modernism politics. According to Jonathan Clark, Jameson had "proposed the epoch of post modernity with its own economic, political and cultural ideals, and practices" (2007), thus it made him the "most important cultural critic writing in English today". For further discernment of the subject, it is essential to analyze the understanding in Jameson's theory, of its background and initial drive of his project (Clark 2007). Like many of the prior structured movement, postmodernism is being criticized by its contemporary movements. In Jameson's work, it stated in there that cognitive mapping is the only hope for the postmodern art, as the form now has been debatable of its principles for certain political analysis. Cognitive Mapping. Perhaps Frederic Jameson's remarkable theory regarding postmodernism is the cognitive mapping. Craig Stroupe of University of Minnesota (2008) defined Jameson's cognitive mapping as "a process by which the individual subject situates himself within a vaster, unrepresentable totality, a process that corresponds to the workings of ideology". Stroupe continued his description of cognitive mapping. This time he picked up Jameson's comparative approach of the ideology to the physical geography of a person as the concrete process of cognitive mapping. He stated: "In a classic work, The Image of the City, Kevin Lynch taught us that the alienated city is above all a space in which people are unable to map (in their minds) either their own positions or the urban totality in which they find themselves: grids such as those of Jersey City, in which none of the traditional markers (monuments, nodes, natural boundaries, built perspectives) obtain, are the most obvious examples. Disalienation in this traditional city, then, involved the practical reconquest of a sense of place and the construction or reconstruction of an articulated ensemble which can be retained in memory." (Stroupe 2008) The key formulation of cognitive mapping is the creative approach of interpretation of the two seemingly or totally different distinct dimensions to each other. It is commonly represented using one's perspective toward certain aspect in dimensional angle (Stroupe 2008). Cognitive mapping is being considered crucial not just in Jamesonian theory. It has been considered crucial as it is regarded as the "missing psychology of the political unconscious, the political edge of the historical analysis of post-modernism" (MacCabe 1995). It is said that cognitive mapping is the way of understanding of an individual's perception and cultural awareness in his society and his transition from it towards his fluency in an urban space. It is the metaphoric process of political unconscious (MacCabe 1995). Cognitive mapping, in easiest grasp, can be defined as channel or linking of one's local self, towards the immediate society around him, and then globally, up to universal awareness. It is the reverse gauge from self perception to an applied political interpretation in wider scope of the many aspects that could matter (MacCabe 1995). The Bluest Eyes. Tom Morrison's The Bluest Eyes is a story directly hits postmodernism's mode of cognitive mapping. The novel's heroine is apparent from Jameson's theory as her way of resolution of the domestic and cultural dilemma she had been dealing. The book, The Bluest Eyes, contains an initial idea that society influences the individual thus became a causal argument all throughout its pages. This influence is probably the effect of the cognitive mapping of an individual of the available window which is his social environment regarding its universal scope. The story centers in the black little girl described as 'ugly', Pecola Breedlove. Being discriminated and being pointed out often that her looks doesn't pass the standard of the white American society, the innocence she was supposed to be cherishing was placed with resentment and insecurity. Pecola wished she should have pair of blue eyes instead. For her blue eyes signify social status and standard for beauty. Her innocence towards the cruelty of the world courtesy of the white Americans rigidness of their views was stolen and replaced by self-loathing and unsatisfactory of her own nature. She was blaming her own color, her appearance and her lack of pair of blue eyes to the troubles that her family is dealing with. Pecola thought that by having at least those blue eyes, which she perceived through cognitive mapping, things would be better, domestically and socially, for her. These blue eyes that Pecola wishing to have, in allusion, has represent a better perspective, not necessarily for her but for the people that surrounds her. Also it could mean that by having these blue eyes, she would be able to see the way how blue eyes possessors see things, like how they were seeing her in a vacuum of their retina. Works Cited "Postmodernism". Encyclopedia Britannica. 2004 "Postmodernism". Merriam Webster College Dictionary. 2007 Barry, Francis. Difference Between Modern Art and Postmodern Art. Art for the Eye and Mind. 26 June 2006. 11 May 2008 Clark, Jonathan. Frederic Jameson's Postmodern Marxism. 2007. 11 May 2008 Honderich, T. Postmodernism. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. 1995. Oxford University. Landa, Jose Angel Garcia. Annotations on Frederic Jameson's "Postmodernism, or The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism". 2004. 12 May 2008 MacCabe, Colin. In: F. Jameson: The Geopolitical Aesthetic. Cinema and Space in the World System. 1995. 10 May 2008 Stroupe, Craig. Cognitive Mapping. 2008. 10 May 2008 Read More