Modernism and Postmodernism

Modernism and postmodernism are significant literary concepts that have emerged during different centuries. These two movements, which left their mark on the 19th and 20th centuries, have important places in the fields of art, literature, and culture. In the context of considering postmodernism as the continuation of modernism, it is not correct to see both as the continuation of each other. It is wrong to see these two movements as completely different because they have similarities as well as differences.

There are some literary similarities between modernism and postmodernism. The first similarity is their approaches to literature. Both movements are not concerned about consistency. In literature, the subject is not given from a single point of view. The subject is presented with an eclectic point of view by breaking into pieces with different thoughts, different perspectives, or different cultures. For both modernism and postmodernism, there is no rule of unity, they advocate division. These both movements bring the differences together like a collage. In modernist and postmodernist literary works, the differences can be attached like a chain. The other similarity between modernism and postmodernism is that there are some elements of randomness in modernist and postmodernist literary works. This feature is called aleatory writing in postmodernist literature. In modernist literature, this is accepted as multiple-narration and the novel is written with more than one narrated story. The reader may feel as if the work is written irregularly while reading it, and the sequences may also be random. Both modernism and postmodernism aim to question the reader in the direction of the difference of reality. The next common similarity is that modernist and postmodernist literary works can have parody and pastiche methods in literature. In reality, these parody and pastiche methods belong to postmodernism. Since postmodernism is a movement that follows modernism, these both movements have some similarities and these parody and pastiche methods can be related to modernism. These modernist and postmodernist literary works are imitated from other literary works. Parodi technique is humorous and critical while pastiche is serious and it praises the imitated work. Both present different perspectives to the reader by eliminating the generalization with the combination of the differences. The other similarity is that these both movements focus on subjectivity, not objective reality. For both modernism and postmodernism, there are many realities and these realities can change from person to person. Hence, reality is not objective, but subjective and variable. Both are against fixed narrative perspectives. The other similarity is that postmodernists use metafiction methods in their literary works. Likewise, in modernist literary works, self-consciousness is a significant technique. Both methods are for the reader to question and distinguish fact and fiction. The last one is their tendency to self. Both movements are obsessed with the self. Modernism uses self-consciousness and self-realization while postmodernism thinks that the self is changeable.

Besides these similarities, there are some basic differences between modernism and postmodernism. The first difference is their date of emergence. Modernism is a movement that began in the late 19th century while postmodernism is a movement that started in the 20th century. As it seems, postmodernism came after modernism and it still goes on. Judging by the basis of these movements, modernism is based on science, innovation, rational thinking, and experimentation because of the consequences of the Industrial Revolution while postmodernism is based on irrationalism. The other difference is that modernism rejects pre-established aesthetic theories while postmodernism does not reject those traditional theories. Modernism tries to end the past. Unlike modernism, postmodernism goes back to the past but it takes advantage of the past by making fun of it (irony). The other apparent dissimilarity is that modernism is like the reflection of the thinking in art and culture while postmodernism thinks that thinking is unscientific. Modernists use the impressionism technique and the artist writes the literary work with the impressions of the outside world. On the contrary, postmodernists do not reflect external factors in their literary works. Moreover, for postmodernism, there is no abstract truth and ultimate reality while modernism seeks these factors.

In a nutshell, here are the similarities and differences between the modernism and postmodernism movements. These two movements, which were important concepts of the 19th and 20th centuries, are based on the thoughts and facts of the writers of that period. While modernism defends logic and thought, postmodernism defends irrationality.