MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM: A REVIEW OF INTERPRETATION OF CONCEPTS IN MODERN LITERATURE
"modernism"
and "postmodernism" aim at comparison in order to clarify the points
of contact and determine the nature of the connection between these concepts. The
widespread use of the terms "modernism" and "postmodernism"
and word formations derived from them "modern",
"modernization", "postmodern", etc. testifies to the
emerging need for a theoretical understanding of those changes of a global
nature that occur in the life of mankind under the influence of the rapid
development of technology and new technologies.
In the scientific literature, it is
obvious that there is no sufficiently clear regulation in the use of these
terms, their attribution to phenomena of a different class, which indicates the
ambiguity in their interpretation. To bring the necessary clarity to this
and other issues arising in connection with various interpretations and
features of the use of definitions expressing the phenomena of modernity and
postmodernity, to reveal their objective reasons and prerequisites will help
turning to a wide historical and cultural context.
"modernism" is associated with the
names of European thinkers J.-F. Lyotard, J. Habermas and others . In
general, they are characterized by an assessment of modernism as a cultural
paradigm aimed at individuality, the activity of the subject, and the priority
of rationalistic knowledge. Such a phenomenon of modernism, based on
belief in reason, progress and scientific knowledge, is being formed in Western
European culture in the modern era.
Thus, the concept of "modernism" is
considered in two senses. In a broad sense, and this is mainly
characteristic of the European tradition, modernism implies the era of the New
Time, in a narrow sense (in Russian history) it is the turn of the XIX-XX
centuries . "Modernism" in the narrow sense as a concept that
embraces the currents of art and literature, sharply breaking with the
classical traditions of artistic creation, and "postmodernism" in
their essence represent a kind of reflection of the crisis state of
civilization and its spiritual culture.
The postmodern is most often understood as the entire
set of socio-historical conditions that contribute to the formation of
postmodernism. The definition of "postmodernity" as a special
historical type of civilization that differs from previous historical epochs or
civilizations is given by the American sociologist D. Bell. The term
"postmodern" is widely considered and denotes not only the historical
and literary trend in modern culture, but also the modern cultural era. In
the new philosophical encyclopedia, postmodernity is defined as “a period of
historical time, chronologically beginning with the period of the undermining
of the industrial system and extending into the future”
From the point of view of some philosophers, modernism
and postmodernism are organically linked. Modernism at the turn of the
19th and 20th centuries creates trends, the development of which leads to the
emergence at the end of the 20th century. a new cultural trend called
"postmodernism". According to V. Welsh: “Although postmodernity
appears“ after the modern era ”, in fact it does not appear“ after modernity ”. Moreover,
it coincides with the modernity of the 20th century, differing from it only in
intensity: what was first developed by this modernity in the highest esoteric
forms, postmodernity implements on a wide front of everyday reality ”
The postmodern cultural paradigm, in its striving to
create an integral spiritual environment that reunites nature, culture and
technology, is characterized by its own system of values, norms, and
stereotypes of behavior. But despite their peculiar interpretation, due to
changes in the modern way of life, value orientations are closely associated
with the tradition of previous cultural paradigms. No matter how
postmodernism renounced all the achievements of previous eras, its roots are
found in the history of philosophy and art. Many art forms, old values,
old concepts are used in their own way by the theorists of postmodernism, whose
works represent a special type of philosophizing based on the synthesis of
philosophy, literature, sociology and other humanities.
So, if the
classical historical model of the evolution of culture asserts its consistency
and indissolubility, postmodernism is a link in the chain of the progressive
development of culture. Postmodernism follows from the entire cultural
heritage of the past, as a result of which it cannot be broken with it,
although the new cultural paradigm proposed by postmodernism is completely
unconventional.
The development of culture is a
progressive line, and the change in the type of thinking and artistic activity
takes place in the same socio-cultural context. Therefore, it is possible
to understand the essence of postmodernism by examining its aesthetic and
artistic ties with the previous culture, revealing the common and different in
the spiritual content, discovering familiar features of bygone cultures in the
chaos of heterogeneous and contradictory phenomena. Ideas bypass
obstacles, cross spatial and temporal boundaries, and unite philosophical
trends from different cultures and periods. Therefore, in my opinion, the
border between modernism and postmodernism turns out to be blurred.