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Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism| Jean Francois Lyotard| PG S3 Critical Studies II
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Overview
This video explores Jean-François Lyotard's essay "Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism?" It defines postmodernism not as an end to modernism, but as a new stage that questions the grand narratives and the pursuit of totality. Lyotard argues that the postmodern condition is characterized by a "slackening" or an attempt to halt experimentation, particularly in art and culture. He contrasts this with the Enlightenment project and introduces the concept of the sublime as a way to understand the limits of reason and representation, emphasizing the presentation of the unpresentable as a key feature of postmodern art.
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Chapters
- Postmodernism, as defined by Lyotard, signifies a period of "slackening" or resistance to cultural experimentation.
- This resistance is seen in attempts to move away from the Enlightenment's "unfinished project" and its emphasis on reason and progress.
- Examples include architects abandoning the Bauhaus project, which integrated craft and design, and a general disavowal of critical theories like psychoanalysis and Marxism.
- The neoconservative aim to dismantle the Enlightenment's foundational principles is a manifestation of this postmodern "slackening."
Understanding this initial definition of postmodernism as a resistance to experimentation helps frame Lyotard's subsequent arguments about its characteristics and implications for culture and thought.
Architects moving away from the Bauhaus project, which aimed to unify art, craft, and design, exemplifies the rejection of a holistic, experimental approach.
- Modernity, according to Habermas (cited by Lyotard), failed by fragmenting life, leaving only experts able to engage with specific fields.
- Habermas suggests shifting aesthetic experience from taste-based judgments to subjective, contingent, and historical evaluations to overcome this fragmentation.
- Lyotard questions Habermas's call for unity, asking if the world can truly be understood holistically or if postmodernism requires a re-examination of Enlightenment values based on Kantian principles.
- The pursuit of a "unity of experience" by bridging cognitive, ethical, and political discourses is a central tension.
This chapter highlights the perceived failures of modernity and introduces the debate around achieving unity versus embracing fragmentation, setting the stage for Lyotard's own definition of postmodernism.
The idea that modernity led to a fragmentation of life, where only experts can participate in specialized fields, illustrates the problem Lyotard and Habermas address.
- There's a recurring call for order and a desire to reintegrate artists and writers into the community, or to 'heal' them if they are seen as deviating.
- Avant-garde movements, characterized by experimental and unorthodox approaches, are seen as needing to be 'liquified' or dismantled.
- The advent of mechanical reproduction (like photography and cinema) challenged traditional realism by offering more efficient and stable representations of reality than painting or novels.
- This destabilized art's rules, leading to a distinction between artists who conform to mass tastes for reality and those who question the rules, becoming 'bastards' in the eyes of the establishment.
This section explains how technological advancements and a desire for order challenged traditional artistic practices and the role of the avant-garde, impacting how art is created and perceived.
Cinema and photography's ability to capture reality more quickly and reliably than painting destabilized traditional artistic methods and the concept of realism.
- Art has become 'kitsch,' meaning it panders to confused tastes and embraces an 'anything goes' mentality, losing its value based on aesthetic criteria.
- Value is no longer derived from aesthetic merit but from popularity and profitability, leading to a focus on easily consumable content.
- Scientific knowledge and capitalist economy impose rules that require reality to be testified by conscious agreement and commitment, potentially limiting authentic experience.
- Modernity, in Lyotard's view, inherently involves a shattering of beliefs and the discovery of the 'lack of reality' alongside the invention of new realities.
This chapter explains how the commercialization of art and the influence of scientific/economic paradigms have led to a decline in genuine aesthetic value, contributing to the 'slackening' Lyotard describes.
Art becoming 'kitsch' signifies a shift from valuing art by aesthetic criteria to valuing it by popularity and profit, where 'anything goes' and genuine artistic exploration is sidelined.
- Lyotard connects postmodern thought to Kant's concept of the sublime, which involves experiencing something beyond the capacity of our understanding or imagination.
- The sublime arises when our imagination fails to present an object that adequately matches a concept, highlighting the limits of reason and representation.
- Modern art, according to Lyotard, aims to present the 'unpresentable' – that which cannot be easily represented or conceptualized.
- Abstract art, by using shapes, colors, and forms rather than realistic depiction, is an example of presenting the unpresentable.
The concept of the sublime provides a crucial lens through which Lyotard understands how postmodern art grapples with the limits of human perception and reason, pushing boundaries rather than seeking easy answers.
Abstract art, which does not aim for a literal depiction of reality but uses form and color to evoke feeling or concept, serves as an example of presenting the unpresentable.
- A work is postmodern only if it is first postmodernist; postmodernism is not the end of modernism but a new stage.
- Postmodernism involves constant innovation and a withdrawal from the 'real' to explore the relationship between the presentable and the conceivable.
- Postmodern aesthetics are characterized by fragmentation and a focus on the unpresentable, rather than a shared nostalgia for the unattainable.
- Postmodern artists and writers work without pre-established rules, formulating new rules as they create, making their work an 'event' that comes into being as it is produced.
This chapter offers Lyotard's direct definition of the postmodern, emphasizing its innovative spirit, its focus on the unpresentable, and its departure from established norms.
Postmodern works are described as 'events' because their creators work without fixed rules, formulating new ones in the process of creation, much like stream-of-consciousness writing.
- Lyotard concludes by advocating for a 'war on totality,' urging a recognition and witnessing of the unpresentable.
- The goal is to 'activate the difference' and 'save the honor of the name' by embracing the fragmented and the unknown.
- This involves acknowledging the presence of unpresentable realities and moving beyond grand, unifying narratives.
- The video emphasizes Lyotard's influence by Kant and his call to resist totalizing systems.
The conclusion provides a concise summary of Lyotard's core message and offers a call to action for engaging with the complexities and limitations of knowledge and representation.
Lyotard's concluding call to 'wage a war on totality' encapsulates the postmodern ethos of resisting overarching systems and embracing complexity and difference.
Key takeaways
- Postmodernism is characterized by a resistance to grand narratives and a "slackening" of cultural experimentation, not necessarily an end to modernism.
- The "unfinished project of Enlightenment" is a key concept, with postmodernism questioning its emphasis on reason and totality.
- Technological advancements like photography and cinema challenged traditional realism in art, forcing a re-evaluation of artistic rules.
- Art has shifted from aesthetic criteria to popularity and profit, leading to the phenomenon of 'kitsch.'
- The sublime, as defined by Kant and interpreted by Lyotard, is crucial for understanding how postmodern art confronts the limits of reason and representation.
- Postmodern art seeks to present the 'unpresentable' – that which defies easy conceptualization or depiction.
- Postmodern creators operate without pre-established rules, making their work an unpredictable 'event.'
- Lyotard advocates for resisting totalizing systems and embracing difference and the unpresentable.
Key terms
PostmodernismModernismEnlightenmentSlackeningAvant-gardeRealismKitschSublimeUnpresentableTotality
Test your understanding
- What does Lyotard mean by the "slackening" in postmodernism?
- How does Lyotard differentiate postmodernism from modernism?
- What is the role of the sublime in Lyotard's understanding of postmodern art?
- Why does Lyotard argue that art has become 'kitsch' in the postmodern era?
- What does Lyotard mean when he calls for a "war on totality"?