American Postmodernism

Question 1

How does Postmodernism build on Modernism?

Answer 1

• taking its idea of fragmentation, unreliable narration and non-linear storytelling even further -> embracing playfulness, paradox and self-referentiality to challenge the idea of a singular, objective reality
• celebrating relativism, ambiguity and the multiplicity meaning within the text

Question 2

Postmodernism is a bit tricky to define, what are some of its characteristics?

Answer 2

• irony and playfulness; satire
• intertextuality and pastiche: references other texts, blending styles and genres

Question 3

What role does “contructedness” play in Postmodernism, especially in its outlook on history?

Answer 3

• views history as subjective and constructed narrative shaped by cultural, social, and political influences
• questions traditional, historical narratives, exposing biases and power dynamics that shape how history is recorded and remembered

Question 4

What happens in “The Babysitter”?

Answer 4

• multiple parallel narratives: contradictory versions involving the babysitter, the kids
• blurred lines between imagination and reality
  –> scenarios ranging from babysitting duties to disturbing and violent fantasies
• non-linear structure: fragmented; shifts perspectives

Question 5

What elements of Postmodernism do we see in the short story “The Babysitter”?

Answer 5

• non-linear
• fragmentation
• multiplicity of perspectives

Question 6

What is the role of TV in the text “The Babysitter”?

Answer 6

• appears around 43 times; is like a character in the story
• impact of fantasy -> influence
• what we consume has an impact on our reality
  -> construction of identity
• TV as means of discovering and exploring the lives of others
  -> glimpses, glances, peeks, peeps

Question 7

“Recitatif” stands as an African American literary text. How is it related to Postcolonialism and Postmodernism?

Answer 7

Postcolonialism: Exploring postcolonial themes (race, identity, cultural memory)

Postmodernism: Ambiguity, Fragmentation and subversion

Question 8

How does the musical term alluded in the title “recitative” relate to the text “Recitatif”?

Answer 8

racial and social tensions in America
–> racial segregation -> evolving racial dynamics

Question 9

What complicates reading the text “Recitatif”? What is the effect on that on the reader?

Answer 9

Ambiguity of two characters -> reader doesn’t know unreliable memory and perspective
–> characters remember certain events differently

Question 10

What do you think of Maggy in “Recitatif”?

Answer 10

serves as a powerful symbol of the marginalized and voiceless
–> neglect, discrimination and vulnerability