Post Modernist Literature/ assignment 3/ Aguila Cinthia

1. Which 2 readings did you choose, and why did you choose them?

The atrocity exhibition by J.G Ballard and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson.

2. Are these readings very good or excellent examples of post-modernist literature, basing your analysis on the ppt presentations given in class? Why/Why Not?

They are good examples of post-modernist literature because this period is regarded to show things without decorating and making them more beautiful as in modernism. Many modernist works try to uphold the idea that works of art can provide the unity, coherence, and meaning which has been lost in most modern life: art will do what other human institutions fail to do. (http://www.colorado.edu/English/courses/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html). This means that in modernism literature authors try to portray beautiful moments because real life and world are not beautiful at all. They thought life was unfair and in some cases meaningless.
Postmodernism, in contrast, doesn't lament the idea of fragmentation, provisionality, or incoherence, but rather celebrates that. The world is meaningless? Let's not pretend that art can make meaning then, let's just play with nonsense. (http://www.colorado.edu/English/courses/ENGL2012Klages/pomo.html)
It takes themes such as irony, playfulness, black humor, pastiche, metafiction, historiographic metafiction, temporal distorsion, technoculture and hyperreality, paranoia, maximalism, minimalism, and magic realism.

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas tells the story of a journalist called Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo when they arrive Las Vegas to report Mint 400 motorcycle race in 1970. However, they quit their job to start experimenting with drugs such as cocaine, LSD, cannabis, alcohol and mescaline.
This fact takes them to hallucinate, imaginating anthropomorphic desert animals, trips and made them to destroy hotel rooms and wreck cars.
The major theme of this work is the usage of drug as a mean of escaping the coarse realities of American life. Many passages of the works tell the decadence of American culture and people who thought that drugs usage was the answer to society’s problems. Throughout Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, the protagonists go out of their way to degrade, abuse, and destroy symbols of American consumerism and excess, while Las Vegas symbolizes the coarse ugliness of mainstream American culture. Raoul Duke and Dr. Gonzo give it little respect. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas).

The Atrocity exhibition is a novel which counts on several fragments. But the definition as a novel is disputed because all its parts has an independent life.

Each chapter/story is split up into smaller sections, each only a paragraph long; Ballard has called these sections "condensed novels". There is no clear beginning or end to the book, and it does not follow any of the conventional novelistic standards: the protagonist (such as he is) changes name with each chapter/story (Talbert, Traven, Travis, Talbot, etc), just as his role and his visions of the world around him seems to change constantly. (Ballard explains in the 1990 annotated edition that the character's name was inspired by reclusive novelist B. Traven, whose identity is still not certainly known.)
The stories describe how the mass media landscape inadvertently invades and splinters the private mind of the individual. Suffering from a mental breakdown, the protagonist -- ironically, a doctor at a mental hospital -- surrenders to a world of psychosis. Traven tries to make sense of the many public events that dominate his world (Marilyn Monroe's suicide, the Space Race, and especially the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy), by restaging them in ways that, to his psychotic mind, gives them a more personal meaning. It is never quite clear how much of the novel 'really' takes place, and how much only occurs inside the protagonist's own head. Characters that he kills return again in later chapters (his wife seems to die several times). He travels with a Marilyn Monroe scorched by radiation burns, and with a bomber-pilot of whom he notes that "the planes of his face did not seem to intersect correctly." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Atrocity_Exhibition).

3. Of all the readings you did this semester, which one was your favourite? Why?

My favourite reading was The Old Man and the Sea since it represents the idea of showing ourselves we are capable to achieve our goals with honor and determination. On the other hand, this novel shows courage as an important instrument in a person´s existance – courage that leads to fulfill our goals in a way that despite the fact of fighting against all odds – man in the end can feel kind of destroyed but never defeated.
Another thing that captured my attention from this novel was the way Hemingway presents Man in conection with Nature. This, in my opinion, is the perfect balance of each element in the universe where they have a very specific and important role and Man is just another element in it. In other words, Man is just part of a kind of circle which is in perpetual motion. What we can interpretate as Life itself. Perhaps, we might discuss this from a religious point of view or a philosofical one. We might even compare the main character Santiago with the image of Christ – as some critics and analists have stated in some essays. However, I think Hemingway tried to show Life as a process with a beginning and an end. And how Man should live his own life experience in the best way possible and connected with nature. Death is inevitable as part of the balance of life, so one should be prepared to face problems, find a way to stand up if we have fallen and see life as a gift , a gift we must treasure, respect and no matter how small are the things we might do, we must be confident and think that they are important.
Well, that is part of the reasons why I really enjoyed the novel. It invites people to think and analyse.

4. Of the 3 time periods we looked at this semester (Victorian, Modernist & Post-Modernist), which did you enjoy the most? Why?

I enjoyed most modernism because it deals with themes such as honor, individualism regarded as the necessity to leave a mark in life. In one life which is so temporary we need to be remembered by having done something different, which might show our individuality. Another reason why I liked this period is that I don’t think this world is a really place of pleasure, but a place where since we born we are imposed to do some things we do not really want to do, so to escape this, art seems to be a very useful a pleasant mean to block out from the world. Personally, I use music and literature for this reason and sometimes movies.
Moreover, during my adolescence I did not agree with the fact of being born, growing, studying a career and then just dying and I needed to give sense to life. I coul not comprehend how people lived most to have material success, I felt human life was undervalued. So I think I identify myself with this period of literature because I look for fighting against social conventions.

Assignment 2/ Modernist Literature/ Cinthia Aguila

1. Which 2 readings did you complete from the reading list provided (or from your own selections)?
The Old Man and the Sea and The Sun Also Rises By Ernest Hemingway.

2. Based on these readings, compare (3 examples) and contrast (3 examples) the works you read with the themes from the ppt presentations in class on Modernist Culture and Literature.

Both The Old Man and the Sea and The Sun also Rises are definitely quite representative of the modernist era and mordernism in literature since they include most of the main characteristics of that literary movement. However, these two novels have some aspects in common and some differences. May be because there are almost 30 years in between and two World Wars. Something that might have affected the author in a way.
When we read the stories, the first thing we think is the fact that they are very different. Obviously, the plots are very different but, they still have some things in common. First of all, the two stories show what I call a dualism between bad and good or what some literary critics call the diference between light and darkness. In the case of the main character in The Old Man and the Sea – Santiago – is quite clear as a symbol. All the time he is not able to catch a fish it is considered as bad luck. Hemingway uses the word “salao” to show this fact. Then, when he can fish the marlin, the whole situation turns into good luck what is the idea of light in his life – idea that is connected to the inner fight a person must deal with when searching for balance in life what brings optimism to the person – to the individual. In other words, the story reflects the concept of individualism. This concept is also developed in The Sun also Rises, but in a diferent way. There the main character – Jake Barnes – has to deal with his reality from a very dark and pesimistic point of view. He does not feel a real man since he has lost his virility, so all his way of seeing life is dark. He knows there are no chances for him to become a real person – a real man – no matter if he does behave and do things that might make him feel a man. He is awared of the fact that he will never be happy and will never be able to be with the woman he loves or any other woman. That is his fate so, drinking and having fun is his way of escaping from this life. Santiago has hope and Jake is doomed. Now, all this brings another important topic which is religion and the way the characters – both Santiago and Jake as only men – feel towards the religious ideals. In the case of Jake Barnes, he has seen so many terrible things in the war that he has decided to live according to his own points of views while Santiago is the opposite. Some critics say Santiago represents Christ himself and it may be because of the way he sacrificies himself in solitude. Santiago is perhaps a symbol of a man who tries to find himself and has faith while Jake Barnes is someone who just lives according to his own rules and has lost faith in God and in himself. May be he is just a parody of the man he wants to be. Spiritual loneliness is present in both cases but, Santiago is able to find his purpose in life which is to prove that he is a fisherman and can find spiritual stability while Jake is only in the process of changing. Another interesting aspect to be compared and contrasted in the two stories is the symbolism of animals – an element which is very important and shared in both novels. Another similar aspect is that animals are shown with respect. They represent passion, freedom, determination and may be energy because they fight in their own elemnts – the sea and the arena. Perhaps another symbolism Hemingway shows as life itself and how man can find a balance with nature, find inner stability and how to understand himself – an scenario for purification, may be. Again the ideas of individualism, honor and religion are present. However, in the case of Santiago, the marlin is a symbol of pride, bravery and survival. They are two souls trying not to be defeated in what they call their own world, this fighting brings honor and respect again for life. In The Sun also Rises the situation is similar. Bulls represent determination, pride and so on, but the element of sex is included. They are a symbol of what a real man should be, a creature that is capable of fighting as a real “macho” someone who can have sex. As a conclusion I would say say that the two stories have similar aspects that represent the ideas of modernism but, at the same time, they are shown in from diferent point of views. Wonderful ideas and it’s a pity that Hemingway killed himself in the end.

3. Do you feel the works you read are very good or excellent representations of Modernist Literature? Why/Why Not?

Both The Old Man and The Sea and The Sun Also Rises are excellent representations of Modernism in literature. As we all know, E. Hemingway was a writer who belonged to the movement or group called The Lost Generation. Artist who for one reason or another decided to live outside their country ( the U.S.A). Most of their experience living in Europe put them right in the place where many changes where taken place. Political changes as well as social and economical changes. On the other hand, they had to face and sometimes live the atrocyties of WWI. So, they had to to adapt to a world that was changing in many ways. However, they knew it was difficult. Because of the war they began to realize there was no purpose in seeing life in a romantic way. The war had shown them a different reality – a world of frustration, loneliness, darkness, alianation and death. All these elements are present in both novels. But, from different points of view where The Old Man and the Sea seems to be more optimistic in a way than The Sun also Rises since the main character achieves a kind of balance with his enviroment and finds himself as an individual. I would say that Santiago finaly lives and finds a way to live in the light and not in the darkness like Jake Barnes does in the other novel.

4. Would you recommend the readings to friends or family? Why/Why Not?

I truly recomend these two novels to members of my family and friends since they both show aspects of life – from different points of view – which are quite valid and present nowadays. Such things like courage, spiritual loneliness, the understanding and balance with nature, the acceptance and objection of religious thoughts, honor and the psycological features of the characters in each work represent most of the problems we, as human beings born and raised in a so-called technological world, must face all the time. So by reading and understanding the portrait Hemingway creates, we can learn how to give some meaning to our own lives and comprehend the reality that surrounds our very existance. In other words, we might be able to find the purpose of our life and how to go through the struggles of being an individual human being.

activity 1

ansewers