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Tag Archives: Jonathan Lethem
My Viewpoint on the Idea of Multiple Viewpoints
Lethem writes that postmodernism doesn’t die because “Postmodernism is the street. Postmodernism is the town. It’s where we live…” I could not agree more. I believe that the relevancy and the strength of postmodernism (especially in the arts) is that … Continue reading
Posted in Reading Response
Tagged "Postmodernism as Liberty Valance", Jonathan Lethem
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Gramsci, and compiling an inventory
When reading the end of Lethem’s essay in which he discusses Kabuki theater and Dixieland as examples of forms of artistic expression that stagnated in their refusal to acknowledge or grow with the changes that were occurring around them, I … Continue reading
Franzen “Why Bother?”
I understood Franzen’s essay as a description of the struggle the novel now faces. The end of the long paragraph on page 65 summarizes the questions posed in the essay: “How to design a craft that can float on history … Continue reading
avoidance of the “now”
“Why Bother?” and “Postmodernism as Liberty Vance” seemed to be working towards the same goal of defining some aspect of the novel within contemporary times. The way both essays were written describes the styles available to a writer then. Franzen’s … Continue reading
Post-Modernity and Self-Awareness
While reading Jonathan Franzen’s essay, I got the odd sense that he was expressing my own thoughts and feelings with more frankness and lucidity than I could manage any time soon. That said, I’m not sure whether my vague “telepathic” … Continue reading
fog horn sound
If only all our post-modern metaphors could be as entertainingly named as Liberty Valance, perhaps we could more easily wade through numberless literary criticism essays. Franzen should have scrounged up a movie to frame his essay, maybe the “narrative” author … Continue reading
Postmodernism as Liberty Valance
Here is the moment from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance (John Ford, 1962), in two parts, that Jonathan Lethem discusses in his essay “Postmodernism as Liberty Valance.” Part 1 Part 2
Posted in Link, Of Interest
Tagged Jonathan Lethem, postmodernism, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance
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