(USA only) 1 888.263.7591 Gallto orderForBeginnerfbooksandto receiveyourfreecatalog Uisitourwebsite at www.writersandreaders.com!
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1 888.263.7591 (USAonly) Callto orderFor Beginnerf booksand to receiveyour free catalog Uisitour websiteat www.writersandreaders.com!
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people notsure , Yotr're whot Postmodernism is.And if this,,erelike subiecf, it probobly wouldn't tellyou. fewgrumpy dernism isnot intellectuol trory, itis ffi ofound /, !d I crises ( ofthe [' Enlightenment. JimPowell tokes theposition thotPostmodernism isoseries ,u.i(
Erlfl 'f,r)t a
IVIIH
of"mops" thothelp peopfe find their woythrough ochonging world. Postmodernism for Beginners@
feotures thethoughts ofFo.ucouft oripo*rrono knowfedge, Jomeson onmopping thepostmod Boudrillord onthemedio,jrrvev r1r,1;!ri9compresion, Derrido ondeconsrruction ond ir,,
oniro,r such os il:l::::*9,:Tl::llf:mr,,i:il,il;,;;;;ffi'i,,n
Pt/ /|4odonno, cyberpunk scFfi, Buddhist ecology *d teledild'nics.
BYJlfrt P0wELL II.I.USTRATED BYJOE I.ET A /h6{a,tt
PHILOSO-PW us $11.95 uK t7.99 cAN$15.e5
@
lsBN 0-86316-188_X
Wrilers and Readera ?ublishing, lnc. 7.O.box 461,Villaqegtation, NewYork,NY iOO14
[email protected] Writers and Readers Ltd. 7 O b o x 2 9 5 2 2 , L o n d o nN 1B F D beqin@w rit er ea nd r ea d er s.c o m
Text Copyriqht@1998JameEN. Fowell llluelrationeCopyriqht@1990Joe Lee conceVtand Deeiqncopyriqht@1998writers and Readers?ubliehinq,lnc. Dookand CoverDeoiqn:RenbeMichaele CoverArt: Joe Lee Thie bookis eold oubjectto the conditionthat it ehall not,,W way of trade or oNherwise, be lent, re-eold,hired out, or ot'herwieecirculaled wihhoutIhe publioher'e consenl in form any of Vrior bindinqor coverot'hert'han lhat in whichir ie Vubliohed and wilhout a similarconditionbeinq imVoeedon the eubeequentpurchaeer. All riqht's reeerved.No Vart,of thie publicationmay be reproduced,sNoredin a ref,rievaleyetem, or lransmilted, in any form or by any meano,elecf,ronic,mechanical,VholocoVyinq, recordingor of,herwise, without,prior Vermieeionof Lhe Tublisher. AWrilere and KeadersDocumentary ComicOook Copyright@1990 t?bN )-86316-1BB-X 34567890 Manufacturedin NheUniled )tates of America 1eqinnereDocumenf,aryComic Oooks are publiehedW Writere and Keadere ?ubliehinq,lnc. lLe t'rademark,coneiet'inqof the worde"For geqinnere,Writers and KeadersDocument ary Comic1ooke" and Writers and Keaders logo, ie re7iotreredin lhe tJ.9. ?atent and Trademark Office and in otrhercountries.
?ublishing
FOR BEGINNER9*
books aontinuouely
sinae 1gT5
1975: Cuba . 1976: Marx , 1977: Lenin . 1978: Nuclear ?ower . 1979: Einstein . Freud . lgBO: Vao . TroLeky . 1981: CapiLaliem . 19b2: Darwin . Economiste . French Revolulion , Marx'e Kapital.FrenchRevolution.Food.Ecoloqy.lgBS:DNA.lreland.19b4:London.?eace.Medicine Orwell . Keaqan . Nicaraqua , Black Hietory , 19b5: Marx Diary . 1gb6: Zen . ?sychiatry Keich,Socialiem.Com?uLere.Orechf,,Elvis.lgbb:Archilechure.Sex.JFK.VirqiniaWoolf 1 9 9 0 : N i e t ' z e c h e . T l a l o , M a l c o l m X . J u d a i e m . l g g l : W W l l. E r o L i c a , A f r i c a n H i o L o r y , l g g 2 : T h i l o e o V h y .R a i n f o r e e t e . M i l e eD a v i e . l e l a m . ? a n A f r i c a n i e m . 1 9 9 3 : ? o y c h i a t r y. A b c k W o m e n Arabs & lerael . Freud . 1994: babiee . Foucaull . Heideqqer . Heminqway. Claeeical Mueic 1995: Jazz ' Jewjsh Holocauet . HealLh Care . DomeeLic Violence . garLre . United Na?ione Olack Holocauot . 1lack TanLhere . MarLial Arte . Hietory of Clowne . 1996: Opera . gioloqy Sauseure.UN|CEF.Kierkeqaard.Addiction&Recovery.lChinq,Ouddha,Derrida.Chomsky McLuhan,Jun7,1997:Lacan,ghakes?eare.glructuraliem.Che,lggB:Fanon.Adler Gandhi 'U.5, Constritubion.1999: Ariu. Oarch VArquez . Dantre, gukoweki. Kerouac . Tanao
2uC;aaal a y'r-*,
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lntroduction...
1
Postmodernese
6
Whotls Modernism?.
8
W h o tl s P o s t m o d e r n i s m ? fh o bH o s s o n . . . Lyotord Jeon-Froncois figure Discourse, ThePostmodernCondition..... Fredric Jomeson
......17 ........17 ....19 ..........2o .....22 .....3+
Postmodernism:or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism.......31 J e o nB q u d r i l l a r d . . . . E o r l yW r i t i n g s "TheOrdersof Simulocro". ln the Shadowof the SilentMajorities ... On Seduction. America TheEcstasyof Communication Architecture . Modernist qnd Art Architecture Postmodern
.......11 .........15 ......18 ..........61 ......65 .........67 ..........69 .......72 ........77
C h q r l eJse n c k s
......78
Poststructurolism
........93
(ond Boudrilord on Foucqult) MichelFoucoult
......94
JocquesDerridq
.....96
deconstruction ond FelixGuottori GillesDeleuze
.-..-.99 ...1o8
D q v i dH o r v e y TheConditionof Postmodernity Artifocts.... Postmodern
......115 .......116 ......122
Blade Runner. Cyborgs Cyberpunk..... Neuromancer
........128 .......131 .......132
.. Poporazzi E Nono-Rovers Audioonimqtronic Teledidonics,
.......131
Mqdonno
......139
lJntitled Film stills (cindy shermon)
...1+2
MTV.
......113
Borbie-Art.....
.......1+1
B l u eV e l v e t . . . . . .
...145
Wingsof Desire
...115
Environmentolism Postmodern
....117
(ln Retrospect) Whotis Postmodernism?
....118
References.....
.....158
lndex
.........16o
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An afr,s brochurefor almoel miqht aVVroany major univeroit'y
conlrary worldview,differenl folkNalee,danceeor mytrho.lf Ihey
or Vriatelyfealure a Vhot'omont'aqe shouldencounter an individual re?reoentinqils seaeonof cult'ural a eociely lhatr wae different,f,hen trhestraleqy wae No conquerit, offerinqotrom aroundthe world. The monNaqemighr feature a
and eexualmililarily,economically
femaledancerwit'han Eaetrlndian
ly; Io converLit tro one'eown reli'
head,a male Navaholeft' leq,
gion;or No kill it. Thevery exie' t enceof the )t'her, Ihe very
the riqht,leqof an Afro' (/^
a Lorso halt'coveredby
?reeenceof the Olher, Voeeda Ihreal lo lhe
a suil and r,ie,and t'he
ou??oeed univerealit'y
obher half feet'ooned
of one'eown beliefe,
Americanmoderndancer,
ln the Tostmodern
wibheaqlefealhers with a one arm dioplayinq eacredTibetan hand
il ie difaqe,however, ficultrlo qet' throuqh a
qeoture,anol'her
d ay wit'houI confronlin q
muscledarm a
poundinqouf,a rhyl,hmon a JaVaneeedrum, and Nwomorefemalearme in a lyricaldance ?ooefrom lndia. Contraet lhis culNuralmixing with Nheliveeof moeT,of the ?eoVlewho havelivedon Ihe Vlanetfor
rnanydifferenl realities. gimVlyt'urn on hhe'N and you miqhl hear a world mueicqrou? oinqinqa blendof lrieh loveeonq, lndianraqa,heavy-metalanlhem, Monqoli an 9 ud dhiel chant'- and all lo Nhef,uneof peyot'edrume,
mosl of iis hiotory. Cilizeneof the
os, panVipeo, qamelane, didqerido nooe ffuf,eg,alpenhorns,gilaro
MiddleAgee and membereof pre' could live modern0ribaleocieNiee
And all Nhese and hambourinee. eounds may be producednotrby
but elecoutrNheiryearo wilhout encount'er- the oriqinalinef'rumenf, tronically,to a danceablereq7ae inq anyonewif,hanot'hergod, a
or hiV-hoV beat,,and broadcaet, worldwide viaeaLellite to millione of viewere-NheprofiIegoingf,o eavethe Drazilianrainforeet.ln facf,, qo to a fundament aliet,lelamic weddingin an EqyVtian villaqe, and the bride,eurroundedby elern eldere, hoodedand veiled go that, no intruding male7aze willVollute herAay oecretlybe lioleninq
to trheconcert,, benealhlhe hood,throuqhthe earVhones of herminialurized radio.7he may jeaneunderher bewearing
I I I Nraditionalskift,, and havea belly I full of Coca-Cola.I T i c ku ?a n y I NewA7emaqazine,and you I will find the I Vyoleriouo I and Unknown I eold in a thoueand f orme-Vey chic channelinge I of dieembodied epirite, Dud dhist, I Taoietr and Hindumeditatrion I Iechniques,Nalive American sweaf,baths, cryot alo and herbe, I elecNronic medilatrio n ma chinee I and exoticVotione.Your tyVical I NewA7er eeeeno conl,radiclion in aLt endinqa Quakermeetingin I f,hemorning,eabinqa Zen macro- I biotic breakfaet,sitting tor ChiI neeeTaoietrmedihalion,eatinq an IndianAyurvediclunch,doinq I a Chero-keesweatrbeforeTai Chi, I munchinqdowna eoyburgerfor I dinner,dancinqin a full-moon I wiNchinq ceremonywith her neoI TaqanGoddee; 7rou?, I
and Ihen cominqhome
I and makinqlovewilh her I NewAqe boytriendaccordinq Tanlric princiVleo. I to Hindu All rhe world's culL,ureo, I rit,ualg, race6,dalabankg, I mylhe and musicalmot'ifs int ermixinqlikea omorI are qaebordin an ea(chquake, I AndNhishodge-Vodqeof I hybridimaqeoio qlobal, dinq t he trradilional I froo mao6 media,and also CyberI o?ace-a e?ace everI I I I I I I I I I I I I I I t'=iil
I I I I I I I I wilh newunivereee blossoming and whichio beinq and realit'ieo, Vrobedby an ever-ex?andinq and of cYberpunks Vopularion cyberoharnanowho-l ike electronic rat's burcowing eidewayoNhrouqha vaef.,interconnecled series of elecNronic gewer6,cellarg,?aoeaqewayo,caverne, quttero, and lunnels-are capableof from cyber' naviqaNinq sil,e Io cyber'eite via an almosl infinit'elyint'erlinkedcaf'aloqueof codee. ln obherwords,we live increaoinqlyin a world of int erconnect'ed difference9-
differenceoamVlifi ed and multiplied -{,F
l*)--'
at,Ihe oVeedof eleclricity. No lonqeris there one moraliNyor mph
or riNual or danceor dreamor philooophy
or conceVlof eelf or qod or culNureor eVyleof ar| t hat, Vred ominaIee. TheexVlosion of newcommunicahions technoloqieoand lhe continuingfragmenlaf,ionof culruresinro lhoueandeof liwle culluree has torced us tro viewour worldas simultaneouelyexVandinq and ehrinkinq.Andjuer as the unexVlored Nawworld of earliercenluriee had ite exVlorerlwho set ouNon voyaqeoof diecovery,bringingback newma?e, whichwereconetanf,lybeinqre-drawnae ever new reqionewereVrobedand chaft,ed,tha Newyostmodern World-?o ef,mod ern Keality-h ao ite mapmakersand explorero. The maVmakereof Vaet cenf,urie;euVerimVoeeda fictif,iouoqrid u?onthe qlobe-Nhe meridians-trhelineeof latitude and lonqitude. Theychafr,ednarcowstraiNs,f arflunq exoNicarchipela7oo, dark cont.inenle,?revailing winde,waveeand c ur renle. ?imila rly, 7oehmod ern intellecf,uale-Vhil oeophere and ih eorief,e-have att emVtedNo maV
te chnoloqiee, economiee,cybere?acee,mediaeca?ee. But not everyonelhinke inf,ellectrua Ily about,all f,he chanqeef,haf,are 'r,akinqplace.
TheseTostmodern sim?lylake arbieLlor architecf,s oymbole, cullureo nof,eof the newnix of meeeaqee, 6onq,Vaintinq andthencrealea video, andmedia, thal refleclelhe Toetmodern condiNion, or buildinq
WewillbeexVlorinq lhe lhouqhtoof someof theee " ma?makere"and"explorero," TogNmodern Nhege inLellecNuals in lhe ?aqeetrhal follow, andarNieNe,
Thie is Male eublecL-Voeilione,"
But woit o minute! lf Post-
derneoe, becauee,in Tosf'mo quye no lonqerexiet.TheY have become" eubject'Voei-
modernthinkershqve some
lion6,"Thesame qoeefor
reolly new ideosmopping
women.ThereforeNhe ohraee"ThirdWorld
the contoursof our times, why hoven't I heord of these ideos before?
women"needeto be queoifreduVt'o "pool'c o l o n i afle m a l ee u b -
A major reaoonie t.haI Toet' ie eucha difficull lanmodernese
The 1ecN-poeif,ione." phraoe"T,heway"
quaqelo underofand-and moef,
couldproVerly
are bookeon Toelmoderniem wrif,f,enin lhie parlicularlyob-
be renderedae "lhe hegemonic
6cureLonque.
(mie)reVreeen-
For inelance-lel'e eu??oeeyou
LaIionand delval'
livein Lhe 197Oe,and you want to eay "Theway while guys Nreal
you can eee,7ogl,'
ThirdWorldwomenae 6ex objecteio
moderneee reliee
s h a l l o wa n d d i e q u e l i n q . "
u ? o nu e i n ga e m a n y
orizaLionof." As
Thefire| thinq you havelo do
e l a e h e ea n d h y p h e n e lo lranelaf,eil into Tostmodeneee and oarentheseg and gent enceet op mak' whal,ever is f,o makef,he other kindeof inq eenee.You do f,hieby eubsf,imarksyour computer can IuLinq myetrerious ?oetmod ern buzzwordeor Vhraeeefor ordinary wordsthat do makeeenee.For ingf,ance"whif,e0uy6"can profilably be reVlacedby the Vhraoe "VhallocraLic and VanoVIic(in Lhe Foucaultian eenee)Oead-Whire'
Thuelhe makeae ?oe6ible. word"ohallow"ehouldcorrecLlybe renderedao "a texLually(ra)inecribedpraxie of pre-dieeeminale d, (counI'er) eubver eive' d eothle6one6o,"'
your frnal infinile bewildermenf'. Tobe pertecllycorcecf', Thenyou look shouldsoundsome- Nhemin Nheeye,cornpaooionaf'elY, t ranelat'ion Nhinqliket'his:"Thehegemonic and Nelltrhemlhat' Ihe Vlurivocal entalion and (mie)reVreo
of (non)meaninqinambiquitiee delvalorizalionof t'he alwaye- herent in their queeLionobviouely alrea dy multi-(de)/ gend ered subvefrt'he Voooibilityof your ocalitiee and (de)cen' deliverinqlo NhemNhekind of pluriv
' ,l
Iered delconstrruct'ed
cheaVand low-downVhallocrat'ic,
and dialoqically Vrob-
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Iions,by hyVerand erof,icized orienNalized phallocralic and VanoVIic (in lhe Fou-
wellt'mnot sosureI understond whot Postmodernism is. And is it POSTmodernlSM, PoStmOdErN' postMODERNism, ism, post-modernismor Postmodernism? Itrhae beenwriT'Ienin all
caulhianeenoe) Nhos e wayo. 7oet'modernism- as )ead-Whit'e-Male Lhe "pool"' i6 Vreface imVlieS, eubjecl-Vooitrion
eomelhinqIhat, followemodern' discourse,ig a Nex- ism, However, peoVlewho Lhink tually (re)inetibed about,euchthinqo ae Tost'Vraxieof Vre-dieeemi- moderniomdon'traqreewhet,her (counter)eubnaL,ed, is a breakfrom Toetmodernism versive d eplhleesneoe," moderniamor a continualion
@ *not!!?? E
of modernism-or bot'h.ln fact, they don'f,evenaqreeas t'o
Andif anyoneaokeyou whal moderniemis, muchlese
whaNall lhal meane,you juel beholdT,hemwilh a qaze ot
Toetmodernism.
Uh Well,whot is modernism?
r ,
ie a blanket,Lerm H lvloderniem for an exploeionof neweLyleeand trende in the arLe in the firet half of the zolh cenlury.lf lhe modern era had a cenlral imaqe-it wae LhaT,of a kindof non-imaqe-a Void-and if the era had a quoIation that, eummedit,all up,il was lriehVoet,Willia m SuIlerYeaLs'slinee:
But whot things fell oport in the modern ero? What center could not hold?
E
Whatfellapart in Lhemodernerawerexhevaluesof the ltth
century,the Aqe of Enligh;f,enment,, aleo knownae bhe Aqe of Keaeon. Trobablythe mainvalueof lhe aqe, beeidesreaoon,wae lhe idea of Vrogreoe.
ln f,hel9th cenlurybhinkerebecameoVlimisticIhat by ueinqNhe univerealvalueeof ocience,reaaonand loqic,they couldqet rid of all Ihe myihs and holyideasf,hat keVf humanityfrom ?roqreoeinq, They felt this wouldevenLually free humanilyfrom mieery,religion, euperotif,ion,all ircationalbehavior, and unfoundedbelief.Humanilywouldthue ?roqreeeLo a elaf,e of freedom,happineeeand proqreee. Francishacon eaw ?roqreeet akinqI,heform of a wiee, elhicaland ecience-minded eliLewhowouldbe Nhe guardianeof knowledge and who, t h o u q hl i v i n qo u f , e i d Le h ec o m m u n i l,y,wouldneverthelese inffuenceil. Marx aleo believedin and envieioned a ?roqreee, Ulopia,7ul Marx'eUloVian vieionwae of a ?erect,world brouqhtr aboul by a maLerialiet,ecience,
Otherbhinkere, however,were nol, Eo oVtimietic.Edmund 9urke wae diequetedwilh Nheexceooeoof the French Revolution.And lhe Marquie de 1ade, lhe qreaf,-qranddaddy of 3/M, exVloredthe pervereitieeof eexualfreedom-Vainting a dark Victrureof hurnanliberal,ion.TheeociologietMax WeberVroVheeied lha| lhe future wouldbe an iron Vrieonof reaeon and bureaucracy,
E
Well,moybeYeotsond oll the
skepticswere right. lt look os if things did foll oport. Whot did Science, get us, ofter oll? Reasonond Progress ThezOthcenturyhos beennothing if nightmoreof not o dork, Kofkoesque rqtion-olly odministereddeqth comps, deoth squods,Auschwitz,WorldWqrs I ond ll, Hiroshimo,Nogosoki,ecologicol disqster-ond vorious systemsof totolitorionism.And oll in the nome
,,)), /,'), \s
vqluesof Science, of the Enlightenment Reoson,Liberotion,Freedomond Progress ! IIII
I
t..n'I
7uI I haven'|,evenlold vou
I,
n"
t,,*.
;t,
t.-E.:tl
He eawthe worldae the dance
abouf,the biggeet,ekepticof
of the deolructivelycrealive
eo V he r a l l - I h e G e r ma n ? h i l o
and creativelydeef,ructivegod
FriedrichNietzsche.Nief,zeche Dionyeue-the danceof the
411 lv
had no lolerancefor Enlighl-
Willto Tower-and Dionyouo
values.Keason?Unienmenf,
wae hie modelof howlo acL in
vereality? Mo raliry?7roqreee?
Ihe chaotic eLormof life.Any
Alltheee Enlightenmenf,pre'
man who acf,edin euch a way
leneee meanf,nolhinqtro him.
w o u l db e a S u p e r m a n .
I
And Nietzeche hit the nail right on t,.hehead.
notrdrill holeein lhe walleof our housesand hallowlhese hollowe,
Afr,erall, many ZOt h-century IuV ermenhave
t hemearneolly worohiVpinq with lhe worde"O rmyHoly Hole,
?rovenlhaf, you haveto deotroy in order f,o create: Hitler, Vao,
oave mel),l"
1halin,etc. Nief,zeche aleo ?ro' claimedIhe "Oeabhof God" as wellas trhedealh of Chrietian - moralilyand metaphyoico.With
No.We livein a cull,ure lhat, esNeems?reeenceover absence,icon overnon-existence, voluVNuoue virqinovervacant,
vacuum,wholesover holesl And one waveof his VhiloeoVhical wand, ye|,,wherewe Vreviouelyhad a the central oymbols,insNilutions center-wheNher in Christrianreliand beliefeof Weslern cullure, qionor in f,he whichhad alreadyeuffereda IS NOTI{IN6 idealeof ecilremendousblowby lhe Aqe of enceand Keaeon,diea??eared-?OOF?roqreoo likea maqician'srabbiT,into the -euddenly dark folds of a cloak. we had nothinq, What remainedwereonly dark waveoof Nothin7neee-a Void.
$nmtD?
Nature, however, abhorga vacuurr, and we Wegf,ernerg,unlike Ouddhie|,e and Taoietre, do nol toleraie voids very well.We do
)ome modernjof'g,euch as Heminqway, creaf,edworkeof arr f,hatr ex?reeeeda kind of Vaeeiverecoqnitrion of this lack of a center. ln hie
ehofr,eIory "A Clean, Well-lighted?lace," oneof hiecharacf,ere, a waitrer, //t t'/t't
reworksf,he Lord'e Trayer andthe Hail Mary-eubetritrutinq "nada"(or "nolhing"in gVanieh) atr oiqnificanf, Vlacee:
rc,c,trA I v7'7A_9'7\ tv vvJ \yvLf
lf modernthinkerecouldno lonqerbelieve in a Chrielian God, Chrislian moralif,y,or scienlifc ?ro7reoo-if Ihere wao no lonqera cenlerlo\Neetern culture-it was neceooaryXo find a new one for, aft,erall, we don'I likevoids. And il wae Nief,zsche-whohad proclaimedt'he deabhof Enliqhlenmenlvaluee,God and Chrislian moraliby-Ihat, ehowedthe way. Alf,houqhhe had deVrivedWeetern
culture of a centrer,he only did so by Vuttinq eomethingeleein ils place-nof, onlythe idea of a guVermanwho ie beyondqood and evil buNaleo ar| beyondqood and evil.Thue,amonq allNhefraqmentalion and chaoe,amidel everythinqfallinqaVafi,,modernarAists beqantro lookfor oomeet ernalvaluetrhat wae beyondall the chaos, TheeearlieNeadoVtedIhe heroic,almosl )uVerhumanrole of rediscovering lhe eeeenceof humanily,of findinqan eNernalvalue beyondall lhe chaoe,of fillinqin NheVoot-NielzecheanVoid in various wayo.ln a world withoul a cenf,er,aeslhelicsatb-became centrral,Afr for arL'o sakel Modern q wa s abo uNVaintinq- eelf-abeorbed, eelfVaint,in exVlorinqite own VrimaryVoeeibili?oeee6eed, |/
tiee: all pooeibleinheractionebef,ween VerceVt.ion,memory,idenlify. Oohemian, avanf,-qarde, exVerimenlinq wilh Iraditional qenreeand otyleemoderna(bisf,e,who brouqht modern arDto ite fullesl bloeeoming eomeIime be|,ween 1910
NrW
and the 193Oe,
ralliedaround poet
Ezra Tound'eballle
cry "Make it new,"eeeinqNhemgelvee a6 creators of the newralher than as ?reoervereof old cultruralforme, )uch aft becamea way t o reVreoenl Ihe eNernalin Ihe mideVof chaos.Cubiemdrew ineVirationfrom lhe eimVleqeometriesof Af rican oc ulVhur e, d emaleri alized objecte, bre akinq lh em down into trheirbaeicgeomelricforme,CubistrafrieT,s Vainted, ag TicagooVut,il,, "nof,what,you oee,but what you knowis fhere."
sensiliveyoulh seek-
aro6ewar machines
ated AuechwiLzand
inqtroeecapethe
Hiroehima.AndNhere
confineeof hie
ao ?owefiulae Ihey were effrcient ln ltaly,
in CatholicuVbrinqing
Ihe war machineof
Dublin,ie baeedon
lhe )u?erman ltAus-
trheancient,Greek
solini.ln Germany,
mfih of the hero
)uVer-
wereolher Vrob' leme-aftietic oneo.
Oaedelueaf,tremVtinq m a n Hitler's NoeecaVethe LabyrinIh. Thue,it, has a
Nazi
rnyDhat it s cenler.
Nrainsran
OneoymbolIhaI
on f,ime,
atlem?f,ed f,o fill in
deliverinq
Ihe Voidlhal had
theirhuman
been left by Ihe "deal,hof God" wao
carqo lo deabh
the oymbolof the
Auschwitzand
machine.Toel Ezra
These buchenwald.
Toundeaw wordeae
cam?oNhemselves
machines.The Voet
drew u?onmoderniet
WilliamCarlos
plannina qndarchi-
Modern
Williamssaid Nhat
arL and lit er-
the wholeVoemie a
NecturalVrincipleo. And lhe Nazl war
machinemadeuV of
machinehad iIs own
increaeingly difficulf
worde,Modernarchi-
center-Nhe myth of
tecle f,houqhl ot
Ihe SuVerRace-f,he
No underetand. Moderniam-
housesae machinee
euVeriorityof blue-
becameHiqhmod-
for livinqin. ln facl, all
eyed,blondmembers
e r n i e mH . i q hm o d -
of society wae be-
of the Aryanrace.
ernismpeakedin
cominqmoremachineraf,ional, Nechnical,
1922,wilh the with moderniemis of Vublication thal scienceand rea- JameeJoyce'o
Fromthie kindof
eon didn't juel create
like:bureaucraNic,
campe like
af,urebecame
9o one Vroblem
machine4ike efficiency ?roqre6e-Nhey cre-
Ulyeeeeand
T,9. ElioN'o"The Wastelandl' ln bolh Ulyeeeeand Finneganb Wake,Joyce exVerimenled with a sNreamof-conscioueneee elyle, plunqin7the reader within Ihe fluid,ehiftrinqfree-flowof hie characNere'?oychee. E]iol'g "Waeteland" exVeri-
Chicaqo,CoVenha7en, Munichor Moscow,t o viewlhemselveeas an exiled,alienahedcultural eliLe. ln "The Metamorphoeie" lhe
menNedwith a fraqmenied poetry full of literary,hieNorical and
wrif,erFranz Kafka eymbolized
mytholoqicaltidbire from around
Nhiealienationof the arl,jet wilh Nheimaqeof a huqehuman-eized
the world-depiclinq a soul and a eocietyin fraqmenNalion and
buqNraVVed in an abeurdhuman
deeVair, eeekinqreinleqraf,ion, a
environmenl.Such afrieIs creaf,-
new cenf,er.1of,h Joyce and Eliof,
ed workseo challenqing and weird
rejected lhe etraiqhttorward, and
tha| Nheycouldonly be appreci-
ralional ffowof the et ory or
ated by a narrowaudience.This
lheme. Theyaleo rejecLedNradi-
onlyfufi,heraddedtrolheir
ti onal characT,erdevelo Vmenl,
elitiet imaqe.
f avoringinetead a fraqmenled otyle. Dul Ihis dislikeof conventional characlerdeveloVment and the celebrationinsf,ead,of Vrv vaf,e,eubjecNive ex?erienceadded
Modernafr,, in fac|,, wao eo far-ouI thal it, dividedculture into "Hiqhbrow"and "Lowbrow." Il, excluded the middleclass,who
trothe t endencyof moderniem'e
could not,underelandiI, and qave riee No a kind of "Vrieolhood"of
arf,iels,assembledin emall
echolarsand crif,ice.Theirjob wa6
qrou?ein ?aris,Oerlin,Kome, Vienna,London,NewYork,
and ie f,o explainmoderniem'e myof,eries,To read James Joyce'o Ulyeeea,T.9. ElioN'e"Waeteland" or Ezra Tound'o"Cantoo" ie an advenf,ure,You needa quide, ae Nhoughyou wereexplorinq the Amazon.
E
differ rhen how doesPostmodernism from Modernism?
E
there ie lirrleaqreemenr on Nhe eubjecl, Varf,lybecaue
"TooT,modernism"-whaleveril is-is
an aNIemVINo
of what ie qoingon now-and we can oeeIhe Vreeenl only in retrosVect,,
)ne ToetmoderntheorieL,lhabHassan,offere a Nableof differenceo the Nwomovemenf,g; beT,ween
Modernism
Tostmodernism
Form (,coniuncf,ivel cloged) ns.Toetmoderntheory, too, offere ,m of the centerleespoelmodern
, worldthan a cure. I
,wellknownfor hie dieT,inclion Onethinq trhal ToeLmodernily hae '
4o. In the aqe of modernitywe sLill L ^ t i ^ . , ^ ) t , ^ , - - r ^^ - . . t ^ ! ^ ^ L Lt- believed in the eubject-the eqo. Afr,ieteeuch ae Heminqway ?oo-
I
eeeeeda unifiede4o and idenlif,y-even if it wae an alienatedone, 1:-1151 : i l : l*\J -n.'
t',tbtl
f-'{tis1
And?oeoeaeinq an identity,Nhey ?oe-
#
eeeseda otyle f,hat could be the oubject
-\.r-'.
of Varody-you could make fun of iI by imit atrinqil. Everyyear,for instance,f,hereis a lilerary conteel in whichwritere imitrale tt
Heminqway's otyle in a humorou; way, ,\lF-.1-
i:tH-.
Everyyear we met at Harryb bar. Wedrank there. And everyyear was a good year. And we sat and drank and imitated Hemingwayb i.,
etyle. And we were good there.
:A
',,4> ('oK
f.t t-
(,) N+
7f
,(^Readin Ihis man' ner,Iext g Vroducea varielyol mutrually "tPt
conNradichory effects,
a7
-l ToslmodernieNe aleo lend lo
ForhimLhereio onlyLhe of Vower.
think thaV langua7eand meaninq are fragmenlary. We knowthat, ?oetmodernismqueelionet he wholenolion of dominance,For
d t*-how powerie exercieed
instance,it queeT,ions the idea that, one qrand etory can domi-
in variouelocalsituatione.The
nale smalleronee.ll queelione Vrioon,lhehospilal,the aoylurr, the idea that Lhereie a hierarchy the univereiNy,lhe bedroomare all Vlaceewhere?owerrelationehiVo are at, work, Even9/M, for ,._r,,
of storiee,wilh the grand narcaNiveeon t oV and Ihe emalleronee lowerdown on NhetrohemVole.
,/
Tosteirucf,uralismbacks uV ?oet-
-4
moderniemwith ito analysisof lanqua7eand knowledge. Oneof the moet VrominentTostef,ructuraliete hae beena FrenchinlellectualnamedMichelFoucaulN.
-=
s
-N \r
\
FrenchVeycholoqiot born in ToiIiersin 1926, He was concernedwiih Ihe relaNionehip between?ower and knowledge. but, he ridiculedlhe ideathat ?owerio a huqe,monolilhicet af,e slructrureand was distruetful of biq mef,atrheories thatr attemVt, lo Vrovidemonolilhicexplanatrione 94
N
ee?oueedeuch localot ruqgleo, DUNDaudrillard commande thal we torget Foucault,becau6ehis ideaeaboul ?ower are obeolele.
l9l whyobsolete? f,o accordinq E Decauee, Oaudrillard, Vowerie dead,die'
=a ID
4
"#
solved,canceledand made hyperreal t hrouqh simulalione, modele,aodes. ln the newTosf,modern universeof mediablilz,we no
lon7erhave?owerVeree-but, q Foucault f orqot somehhin aboul-simulations of Vower,For inetance,RonaldReaqanruled like a kinq merelyW posing-bV offerinq eigne of powerin phohoope Foucault,,ie a kind of qama a way
and sound bites-ratrher Nhanby
lhe dimeneions of of explorinq
exercisin7power,
-J
?owerlocally.No 6rand general theory can exVlainhow ?ower worksin all Nheseeit ee.
Fur\hermore, Fur\hermore, eve\ even lhere ie Vowertrherei: lance. Andthe onlyw
oaye,iemtntsT,s,iormer com-
iW
d7
flutif rougris
t5 dead-su
sErrualit
Accordin7to Foucaullsexualif,,yrefereLo lalk and wrilinq abouN erotricVracticee,whichcontain rulee and distinquieh and Vrohibitione 7ul normaleexfrom pervereione, gaudrillard, in the new accordinqIo Toetmodernera sex ie dead becauee ie eex.Sexualeimulationeare everyLhinq in advefi,isinq, in fashion,on everywhere, 'N, in filrn.)exualitryie no longerinlimafe, lf, io oVen, ?ereonaland Vrivatebehavior. encouraqe d, unlimited,unreetricled, mandaf,ory-a commandt o releasesexualLeneione(builf uVthrouqh Lhe sex-everywhere dieplayof eexualily)throuqh eexualcodes. Thus "Everyfihingie oexualitry"(FFt+1,Duf,if everything ie eexuality-Lhen nothing ie oexuality!
Poststructurql @ *.,,, if sexis deod in the Postmodern, universe,then is there onything left? lt seemsthot everything hos been destroyed. AndNhat,brinqeue Lo deconetrucLion-lhe brainchildof French' t rainedphiloeoVher J acqueeDercida,
96
Weren't Foucoultond Boudrillord Frenchos well? Why is so much Postmodernond Poststructutrolist thought domi-
notedby Frenchthinkers? the [ *r,, France,durinq (the l9rh cenEnliqhtenmenl tury), ae we havealreadY t alked abouf',reallYinvenf'ed
;
lhe idea of lhe inlellectualthe idea of a cerebralelitrewho wouldsil back and iuol sofD of Ihink abouf,thinqo. And from the f,imeof the Enliqhtenmenl,,Francehag beena kind of Varadieefor a Vlace intellecNualo, and wherephiloeoVhers thinkers have beenreqardedao nationalf'reaeuree.Their books are ena??edu? ao readilYae the Iheir dioPut'eoand lat eol 'r'hriller, divagalioneare writf'en uP in qloeey,maoe-media ma qazinee, rhey a??earon'N ralk ehowe, they qeVqood-lookinglovereand qood seaf's at' reslauranls. ln exchangefor f'hese favore, theY are ex?ect'edf,o getra moral I'one, Io buckeet'abliehedvalueo,and
mosl import'anf'-No be avanN qarde.TheYreetreecurein t'he think Nhatrwhal tr'heY knowledqe today, t'he resT,of France will be t;hinkinglomorrow. At times, Nheir wiedomevenovereVilleFrenchbordere,floodinqT'heqreaLerint'elleclual worldwilh Frenchideae,
For decades,on
acro99
p?e. Ae we
the eidewalkeoubeide the cafes of ?arie,
abouf,,Frenc
light,has danced
denLg,eu??o
downthrouqhthe bouqhoalonqNhe
the Marxietrs,loo
boulevardo, playing over the eufiacee ot
Ihe army and policein
objeclo,dappling
the governmenLThey
tableclotheand vari-
nearlyeucceeded, but wereevenT,ually
havealrea
lhe etreete, fiqhling order to overlhrow
ouelyattired loreoe with ewarme of
quelled,Failinqto demoliehehaIe ?ower,
eVhemeral huee. Frenchcafe-qoers,
Lheybecamedieillueioned, inwardlo oking.
manyof them peoVle of inlelligence and culture,haveVlaced orders,fumbledfor ciqarettes, and found iI very aNlractive Io
lked
guddenlyexhibitinA Affi,l who,beeideswonderinq if trheNableis or ie notr,was to be found engaqedin poliLical
Toelmodern ciemabouLq mythe euch iem and ffimmuniam,
be ableto eiNat a t ableand t alkabout
and Vublicaffaire.ln Nheybeqanto commif, recenT,limes, up unNil Ihemeelves Lo lanLhe t ableand, raioinq the late 196Oe,Jean- quaqeitself. Dieenan intelleclualeyeTaul1afr,re defined gaqingthemselvee browin Lhe daVpled the imaqe.7ut I,hen from Volitice,Ihey liqht,,Lo aek if the the icon of the intelbecamelinquieticrevt ableie. lecLualchanqed, oluLionariee, findinq Treeidingover Af the earnelime revolulionin turne of all thie Lablet alk, youn7Americanowere eVeech,and they from the time of the t r i V V i n gt o J i m i H e n - beqanlo viewliheraFrench Kevolution, f,he drix, "H6y Jude,"Hair, f,ure,reading and imaqeof the Vhilooo- and 2OO1:A gpace writingas eubvereive
9B
pher wa6 one of the
Odyaey,a eludent
intellectualenqaqe,
movementreweVtr
polilicalact e in [hemeelves.
French intrelloc,tu' t.:'..
..
ale beqanattehdw'4 lo how wordo oaY f,o \\,a rneref'han what words
dieoay. lncreasinqly
causedmany previouo
IrusLfulof lanquaqe
Io be VhiloeoVhere reagoeosed,and it'
claimingf'o conveY
onlya oinqle,a$thori' set Lhe Nonefor f,arian me#6aqaT'heY muchrhoughf,lo come,lNwas eome' how baganry,lVlorinq thinqof a disharmoYnanydifferent t'hinqe niouschord,for his DUN forbe wae a subver' eimulf,aneouely.
lanquaqecan oay
\
by Nhelime all this ,"
sivemodeof reading
had taken Vlaca
authonlaiimiSXf;,-
JacqueoDerridahad emerqed,in t'he laNe
or any f'exIs. This otyle of readinqcame
196Oe,as t'he moeN avanf'garde of f,he
lo be knownas
avanf'qarde'Hie leclure qivenat' Nha
France,decongt'rucT,ion, ki ckinq exieben-
i
*"
I
deconstructiofi.ln
Johne AoVkineUniver' lialiem aeide,wao oily in 1966,"91,ruc- euddenlymuchin lure, Sign and ?laY in voque.Oerridabethe Dieaoureeof t'he cameIhe VhiloooVher of the day,t,henew Human Sciences," enfant terrible of Frenchint ellecI'ualism. Andthen, afI'er Ihe Americandebut, at JohnoHoPkine, and deconst'ructrion Jacqueo Dercidat'ook America bY of'orm, Lurningmuchof Nhe Westernworldview toVey-IurqY. YV
Well,tell me then,whot is deconstruction? Defininqdeconslruclionis an aclivity Nhat'qoee aqainotr the wholeNhruet'of Oerrida's lhouqhl, AcLually,Derridahas eaid lhal any eNat'emenleuch as "decono|,ruclion io'Y" auNomabi' cally miseeslhe Voint.OUN deconebruclionofaeninvolveea way of readingthat concernb itself wilh decenterinq-with nature unmaskinq the Vroblemabic of all cen|,ers. Decentering?Centers?Whot is c center?Whqt is problemotic obout one?Why should one
r
need to be decentered?
fl Well, Dercida,whenhe ie not deconsNruclinqa t exl of some difficult VhiloeoVher euchae Nietzsche or Heideqqer, writ,eeabouN cen|,ersin euchabeNract,lanquaqe, whichie usuallycaVitalized,and whichquaranleeeall meanin6. Nhat I will offer gome concrete examples.Accordinqto Oerrida,
for 2OO yeare, For insT,ance,
all Westerntrhouqhlio basedon
much of Weslern culf,urehas been
trheidea of a cenler*an oriqin,
cenf,eredon T,heidea of ChrisNian-
a TruNh,an ldealform, a Fixed
ity and Christ,.Other cu\,ures,
?oint,an lmmovableMover,an
as well,all havetheir own central
Egsence,a Ood, a Treoence,
eymbole.
Well,whot's the motter with thqt? Theproblem cenlerg,for Derrida,ie IhaI Ihey at0emVt,Lo exclude,In doingoo Ihey ignore, re?re66or marqinalize others (whichbecome the Other).ln male-dominat ed socieliee,man ie cenf,ral(and womanis the marqinalizedObher, re?re66ed,iqnored,Vuehed Io f,hemarqine). lf you havea culture whichhae Christ in lhe cen|,erof it g icong,lhen Chriotians will be cenlral No that culf,ure,and 7uddhiete, Muelime,Jews-anybody different-will be in the marqino, marqinalized, Vuohedf,o the oulside. (Wemuet remember that Dercida wao born into an aseimilated '. Jewieh family in Algiero, qrowinq up a6 a member i of a marginalized, d iopoooess ed c ultu re),
3o Nhelonqing for a cenl,ere?awnobinary oppooitee,wilh oneLerm of fhe oppooitioncenlral, and NheoNher,marqinal. Fu(Yhermore, cenlers wanl fo fix, or freeze,the Vlay of binaryoVposiNee.
realiNy.All olher
Fixthe ploy of binorY whot does opposites? thqt meon?
[
*r', , r,he ovpooir,ion
manlwomanie juot' one binary oVpooiNe.Ot'hersare eViritrlmat'f,er;nature/ culture;Caucasian/ 3l a ck; Eurocent riemI Afrocenand Chrietrianl T,riem; Vaqan, Accordin7tro Derridawe have no acceesto realitryexceVf' Nhroughconcept's,codegand
viewgare
repreooed. Drawing suchan icon is an af'NemVINofix t'he fo ?lay of oVVooiteebet'ween, or Ch examVle,Chriet'ianlJew ianlVaqan.lheJew and Ihe ?a7anare nof,evenre?reoen
in euchart'.Dut iconeareiue oneof lhe eocialVract'icesLhereare manymore- ihat'
and Ihe humanmind t o fix Ihe Vlayof oVVooif,eecaNegories, functioneby forminqconceVt'ual advefrieing,eocialcodes,t a pairosuch as Iheee,Yousee
convenf,iong,caNeqories, rilu a
howone memberof Ihe Vair, The (herethe lefL),ie privileged,
e t c . 7 u l r e a l i t ya n d l a n q u a 7 e
riqhl-handlerm then becomee
as iconswith a cenf'ral,exclu
lconewilh Chriet, marqinalized,
siveimaqein their middle-t
or Suddhaor whaleverin f,he cenler trry I,o Iell ue trhaNwhat'
are morelikeambiguouofiqu The int ereotingthing abo
ie in the center is t'he only
such figuree ie lhat at' firet
are noI ae oimVleand einqula
One oee only one ?ooeibilit'y. "cenbral"for a Voeeibililyio
or ?eroecuted. The imaqeof Ehefaces becomesNheVrivi-
momenl.For a momentt',he
leqedmemberof lhe oriqinal
fiqureeignifieofacee,bul t'hen, becaueeNheVlayof lhe eye-
Vair,lnoNherworde,a violent' hierarchyie formed in which
tremis nol arceeted,T'heolher viewdawne,and t'he oamefiqure
memberof the cenf,ralized
a candle. eiqnifieo buI eu??oeea qrouVoeizee ?ower,a qrou? calledNheFace' iete (l havedeliberaf'elymade this sound like"Faeciol'e"). Theymighl draw eyeoon f,he
lhe Vair,Nhef ace, becomee ineNilutredae NheKeal and lhe Good. Derridaoayo t'hat all ot Western thoughl behaveein ihis 6ameway,forminqpaire of binaryopVoeileein which
aT,temVt,tro fix or arreot t'he
one memberof the Vairie VrivNhe?layof the ileqed,lreezinq
free Vlayof differencee.
Nhe eyelem,and marqinalizing
f aces.Thiewouldbe an
iels wouldbe marginalized,
olher memberof the pair.but' Nhefrqure,in realif'y,eiqnifieo
re?reaoedand evenoVVreoeed
both facee and a candle.
ln eucha eilualion,Candle-
@ ,"r, but how doesthis cpply to longucae,to literoture,to reoding?
r
ie a t actricof decenterinq,a way H Deconstructrion of readinq,whichfirst remindeus of the centrality of the cent'raltrerm.Thenir att emptrof,o subverrlhe centrralNermso rhat the marqinalized term can becomecenf,ral.The marginalized Ierm lhen t emVorarily overLhrowelhe hierarchy. )uvpoee you havea ?oemeuch ae rhe followinghaiku:
And eu??oeethaf, for thoueandeof yeare Ihe
onlycorrecrwayof readingrhe poemie to read "pine6"ao a verb-like piningfor one,slost love. O.K.But whqt qbout the other meoning?Cqn't "pines," in the context of the secondline, switch over ond becomeo noun: .,pines upon the mountqinside?"
E
Yee,that'o riqht, That wouldbe lhe eecondmovein deconetructinqa pieceof literature-to eubverl trheVrivileqed T'ermby revealinqhowrhe repreesed,marginalizedmeaninq canjuet as wellbe central.
But whot good doesthot do? Doesn'tthis just instituteo
f,hebinaryo??o6iteein a non'
new center?lnsteod of
lhal both readinqe, and many
"pines" the verb we hove
olhere,are equallyVoeeible,
hierarchical way,Thenyou can eee
"pines" the noun. Or insteqd Yes!Like"pines upon the mountoin sighed" (insteod
of Foce-istswe now hove Condle-istsin power?
of "mountoinside")! Exachly.DercidaclaimelhaL
9o youcan eeef,he Voeeibili-
ie a Volitical deconslrucT,ion Vractice,and f,hat one musl noI
E
paeeoverand neulralizethe
muniel Manifeeloor f,heTorah
f,oo quickly. phaeeof eubveroion For f,hieohaeeof reverealie
or trheKoranor lhe Sibleor f,he you coulddeconConetifuf,ion,
neededin orderf,o subverLthe
elruct any frxed,auf,horifarian,
oriqinalhierarchyof f,hefirel
dogmatric, or orthodoxreading.
lerm over the second. 7uf,
Of course,such lexlg are much
evenf,ually, one musNrealize lhal thie newhierarchvie e q u a l l y u n e t a b l e ,a n d
tiee. lf the lexT,werebhe Com-
morecomolexthan our haiku. Theyare more multifacel,ed, likethe drawinabelow.
gurrenderto the comVlele free-?lay of 105
lf you havea eyof,emof trianqleo such as Nhie,Nhenyou will nof,iceIhaN if you sf,are aN il,, a eeries of configuratione of trianqleo preeente itreeltNo your vision-one aft,erthe oT,her. Sul each ao-calledpreeent confrquratrion, whicheeemsNo eachqrou?of Nrianqlee be momentarilypresent,hao emerqed and is alreadydieeolvinqinlo a fuNurecon' ouVof a prior confi7uraf,ion Thereie no cenT,ral figuration.AndNhie?lay qoeeon endleeely, confiquno marqinal ration that, attemVte NotreezeIhe play of the oyef,,em, one,no Vrivileged one,no re?reesedone.Accordingto Oercidaall lan' 7uaqeand all t exf,,eare, whendeconslructed, likethis. And eo ie human Nhouqht,, whichie alwaysmade uV of lanquaqe.He eayo we ehouldcontinuouelyaltrempl lo eeetrhisfree play in all our languaqeand Nexte-which otherwisewilllend toward fixity, inelif.,uNionalizaT,ion, cenlralizalion,totalitarianism,exclusion,For in our anxietywe alwaye feel a needNo construcf, newcenf,ers,Lo asgociaNeourgelveswilh Nhem,and lo mar7inalize f,hosewho are differenlNhan their cenT,ral valuee.
see,then. Deconstructionfirst focuseson
D inttlllt,,tt''
the binory oppositionswithin o text-like mon/womon. Next it showshow these oppositesqre reloted, how one is regorded os centrol, noturol ond privileged-the other ignored, repressedond
morginolized. Next it tempororily undoes, subvertsor decentersthe hierorchyto moke the text meon the oppositeof whot it originolly qppeqredto meqn. Then,in the lost
\f
step,both termsof the oppositionore doncingin o free deconstructed-seen non-stoble ploy of nonhierorchicol, meonings.Butif longuogeisjust thefreeploy of meonings-withno fixed mecnings-ifqll textsdegenerote into the ploy of meqnings,then thereis no bosisfor politicoloction.
\1
T Marxislsand lfl ffnar'oriqhl,ln fact',many
d deconebrucf,ion f eminietrehave af,tracke becauseiNcannotr7rovidea firm foundaf,ion for poliricalacNionor even?olilical crif.'icism'
is frogmented,then @ o"O if longuoge people,who uselonguoge'mustbe somewhotfrogmentedtoo. I f'heowhaNmany?osAmodernisls ljl Vru, t'hisie rize.Whereaslhe menlal diseaeeoof modernism is \ and Varanoia,ochizoVhrenia werealienat'ion the ?oslmodernmenf'aldieease.lf lhe een-
lence breaks down,so does lhe peyche'5o does our ex?erienceof paev, Vreoenland fuLure' itr eurts Nhese Thue?oelmodernismwallowsin the ?lay of meaninqo, meaninqsand is concernedwit'hVertormance,?lay and Vroceoe delighlo raNherNhanwilh trhe finiehedvroduct,,?oetrmoderniom t'han wit'h in lhe ever-changing ?lay of appearancez,raf'her eourceeand rootreand oriqino.Whichqet,sust'o our nert whoeeidea ol fhe ?oslslrucluraliets, Deleuzeand GuaT't'ari, rhizomeio oV7oeedIo f'he root.
GillesDeleuzeand FehxGuaIlari are f,wo FrenchYoslsf,ructuraliste who havehad a major imVact,on Americanthought,.
For,accordinqto them, mo6f, of Weetern lhouqht ie dominatred by a elruct ure of knowledqe they call aboreecence.The way of knowinqie treelike, ve(Dical,For instrance, in bioloqywa haveLinnaeantaxonomies.
|rrhEHirtrr ue hrue
fut Fhqria n
uEhaue ln [inguirtirt
EhrHIlt{iln
\
VP /\ is
wise
guchNreesshowuVnot onlyin the freldsof bioloqy, and analomy,butr alsoin Vhilosobotany,linguistics treee,theoloqical ?hy-wherewe havemetraVhyoical qnoolicf,rees,TheWorldTree,qenealoqical lrees. Nreeo, TheeeNreesare hierarchical, imVooinq limited and requlatred between connecf,iong Iheir comVonentre, Alleuchlreee oVread outrlikemanybranches and sf,emsfrom a sinqlelrunkfrom an ori1inal eachef,eminq oneneea or unity. n m a
C m o
e
nhodospirillum rubtum
treelike becauseall lhe varioueVeychic ?roceoeeecan be f,racedback No an oriqinaltraumaf,ic evenLin whichIhe child ie eeVarated from Nhemother.Thie lack of the molher ie the basieof deeire, and is com?enaated for onlyby the child's enIry into the oymOf couree,all thie can be LracedbackIo
Doqqineee ie Ihe single Tlatonic Oriqin-
bolicorder-Ihe order of Lawand the Name-
?laf,o,whoee ve(Dical,
the Trunk-of the
of-the-Fatrher.
f,reelikeVhiloooVhy proclaimeda material
lree of doqo.Toodles, colliee,etc, form the
OuatLari reject Ihe
worldof manifeela-
branchee.
idea of the OediVue
tions st emminqfrom T,he"f,runk"of a realm of ldealFormeor Eeeences. For instance, OobermanVinechere, GermaneheVherde,
9u1 Deleuzeand
A major Nree-
Nrianqle-of the like etrucf,ure that f af,her- Vrincipl e, and Deleuzeand GuaIf,ari of deeire baeedon criLicizeis the )edilack. Deeire,for ?uo comVlex.lf, ie ..
r\\ ll\l
'
;,,, tt."'.
Deleuzeand GuaNtrari, instead of beinq baeedon lackand
colliesand Voodles are all material manifeetationsof an immaterial Eeeence-an ldeal Form of what, Tlato might,call Doqqineee.
110
"f ,s\$ -li
rooled in an oriqinal )ediValLrauma,ie
and GuaLlari ?ro' claima rhizomaf,lc,
crealed horizontallY, radicallyhorizonfal, way of by oocialinlerconnec- crabgraes-like Crabqraeo, lione. Andthe inT'er- knowing. bef,ween for ingtance,ie a connecf,iong planI. 7uI instead of the infant'and hie
Whereaelhe lree eeekef,o eef'ablieh ileelf and eay "lo bel' lhe rhizomeie alwayo rearranqinq inf'ercon' necliong,eayinq"and,
eocieNY ourrounding
one cenlral rool, if'
a n d ,a n d ,a n d , . l ' Thug the tree ie
are alwayein movernent,frowinq,t'akinq
has zillioneof roob6,
concerned with ori-
noneof whichie cen-
gine,foundat'iono,
a lineeof friqht',like
lral-and each off-
ontologiee, begin-
elrinqer of crabqraee shoot,inLerconnecls nlngeand endingoin random,unrequlat'' roots.The rhizomeis . . . t i k ea r h i z o m e . ed networksin which concernedwith sur3o, oppoeedLo lhe vert'ical,f'ree'
any nodecan inler-
like sf,rucl'ureof
conneclwith any
faoe conneolions, lines of flight', wit'lh
Deleuze knowledge,
olher node.
Lhe "andl'
not mean anythinq or repreaent,anything. Theyare not Lhereto be intrerVreted. It, ie good enouqhmerelyto
character,Greqor gamea,
deecribedreamsand, in doinqeo Nowalch howlheir eymboleo?en
awakeeone morninqonlyIo find that he hae beenIraneformed into a huqebuq.SomecriNice
u? new,horizonlalinterconnec-
reqardtrherelalionehiVbetween
lione bef,ween olher eymbole. For ingtance,in Kafka'o"LeN-
Greqorand hie molher and father ao NypicallyOedipa|Dut,
ler f,o Hie FaIher"he inffateshie
aqain, Kafka exVlodeeLhe Falher'e
faNherto lauqhablyabsurd, dreamlikedimeneionl,unlil his father's oingularFalherneeeqeto
einqleimaqeinlo many,including
eo huqeNhaI iI Vope-explodinq int o a vasl rhizomalic networkof f at herlike eocial conneclions
a chief clerk and a bose. Kafka thue triee Io de-OediValize Greqor'o fabher.Dut in Lhe end Greqor'6lineof ffiqht faile,and likea qood 6on, he diee for hie family,
lN is only in Kafka'enovels trhat the rhizomaf,iclineof friqhf, truly succeedo-eo?eciallyin y from him
a The Trial.One miqhl exVecN
alwayeone roo
novelnamedThe Triallo have
ral Nunnelof in the rhizomaNic,
Nodo wibht'he law, eometrhing
the coufi,houeewiNhiNecrazy
3u1 Deleuzeand Guaf't'ari find
connecNcorridoreand ?ervereely NhrouqhwhichK. ed paeoaqewayo
lhaN Just'ice in lhe novelis noT' leqalbuLerotric.JusNiceie reallY desire.Thue,t'hereare obecene an drawinqoin Nhecourl'houee; af,Norneyequaileobeinqaccused wilh beinqaf't'ractrive;a series of euqgeoNive encounf'erg
\
with eexy, antrifamilial S;-t women;and a Vaintrinq of Just'ice ae winqed, and evasive. K.,tha ?ro' Iaqonietrof Nhenovel, neverreaches Justice. ")he" ie never?resenl, buf'
ie led by erolicizedwomen.Thus Jusiice,likelhe coufi'houeeand degire,ig rhizoma|'ic,neverreach' Kafka'swrif,ing, inq conclueion. and maVVinq troo,ie rhizomaNic, toying with lhe ebrucbures Lof ingf,it'u' u. .VA
t.iongand eocial relal,iong.
The biehoVindicat'edie lsn't the Internetrhizomqtic, horizontol?
JacqueeGuillof',who was exiledbY the VaNican No Algeriafor his
opiniono,)f'uck in the hor- "hel,erodox" Yee.lt, is non-hierarchical, middleof Ihe desefi,-in an izonlal.lls nodesintersecl in whichany nodecan inf,erconnecl
ancienl dioceeeIhat for all Vracno longerexietelical VurVoeee
with any oT,,her node.ln thie
the he went,online,becominq
reoVectrDeleuzeand GuaT.,Iari
world'sfiref, virtrualbiehoV.
random,unrequlatednetworksin
werecorrecl,whenthey declareda
It was a visionaryauthor,Leo
newform of rhizomalic,horizonLal )cheer,who hookedup Ihe biohoV, knowledqe. ln f acN,f,here He ie quoted ae oayinqthal " lnstead of a metaphyeical idea is a sf,oryin t,he
M a r c h1 8 , 1 9 9 6 NewYorkerenliIled "Vifr,ual
Oiehop;'
of a biehop,attached to a real place, we would have a metaphyoical idea of a place, attached to a real biehop." ThevirLualdioceee,whichcan be acceoeedfrom anywherein the world,imitalee trhemind of Goda horizonf,al, rhizomalicGod. ln facN,lhe biehoV,who counle amonqhis triende VeoVlelikeJean baudrillard, comVlaine that, until lhe oVeningof lhe virtual dioceee, "The Church hae been orqanized veraically,when we ought to be organizedhorizontallyi' Of couree,
-N \i:
the Churcheoonwent,online ae well.
H
El lt seemslike E committed s u i c i d e !B u t verticolis out ond horizontol h o w ? is in.
t
\1,\
T n Hejumped n Yeo,but t,he off a tall vertl' \
.N
lronicthing io HOW,in 1995, Deleuzeaommitted euiaide,
aal etructur* a buildinq.
(
w
The Condition of Poetmodernity It seemsqs if hisselfmusthqvebeenpretty -of ented.Butwheredoesthe frogmentotion self, ond of "things"-common to both modernism
ond Postmodernism comeFrom? T n Well,accordinqto DavidHarvey'oTheConditionof Postmodernity,
changeein our ?erce?trion of lime and epaceoccur,this brinqeabout equallylarqechanqeoin Nhewayowe re?resentthe world-boLh in the art,e and in Vhitoeophy. The hielory of caViNaliom hae brouqht,on whal Harveycalle e?aceLimecom?reoeion: Therehae beenan increaeein Ihe Vaceof life. And lhe increaein7 com?ression in Nime,e?acehas ehrunk.rhe Varalleling worldoeemoto collapeeinwardeon u6. oul it' wao not alwayelikeNhis.DurinqEurope'ofeudal era, each tf Jt f'F-t
) ' feudalfiefdomwae a
ffi._ts
definireleqal,Volitical,economic and social
world.ANt'hecenf'erwaethe caetrle,lheLordand Ladyof the caet'leand rhe nobiliLy. Workingrhe fieldsand the foreeto,a laee of eerts wereloyalto trheirfeudal lorde,of course, of a ff,hiofeudal world wae trhoughVto be onlya reffectrion ';., coemosruledon hiqhby God and a qanq of heavenly hoeT,e, and VoVulatedby darker characfero,Nhecreaturee of myfh and folklore-wiT.,ches, qianNe,dragono.
MedievalmaVmakereoften
With t'he Kenaiesance,lhe
lhie world in eensure?reoenhed ous det ail, almosl likea Vaintinq.
princiVleof Verepeclivemade iIe
ln such ma?e,a riveris a sensuous frowof blue Vain| Ihat' cuts trhrougha dark foresl (reVreoent'ed by painbinqin a numberof Nreee)-and beyondwe find lhe castle. A crose ohininqfrom t'he oteeVleof the churchand it s 6ur-
and religion. etiNioneof m;yl'lh At the 6ametime, t'he Ttolemaicoyotremof ma?makinqmade ilo way t'o
lhat reV- \i are aleo all reV' EuroVe-a oyotrem roundinqbuildinqo resenled o?ace obieclively. resented ae they might,be in a Fromtrhenon, a malhemalical
Thesedet'aileare oeen Vaintrinq. ae from a bird's-eye?ereVecNive, if God werelookingdown upont'he
qrid-a qeometricframework
ecene,Ar the edgeof such ma?e
lowns oure dislanceg bet'ween
allowinqviewerslo acf'uallymea-
and oceane-wouldaVcosmicdraqonwait'inqNo ewallow ?earon all ma?o.Nou einceallof o?ace,all of anyonewho woulddare venbure lhe world,couldbereVretroocloset o trheedqe eenled by a qeomef'ricqrid, t'he andf all into hie wholeqlobewae euddenlyknowmouth.
wae Nheend of t'he world-and a
ExVlorero, ableand conquerable. oettinq oul on voyaqeeol dis' covery,drew such ma?e,which wereNhenvaluableto merchants and Nradere,
At the eameNime in everyephereof Nhat o?acebecame choVVed uV mathematically,the clock,
Thenbhe lBrh-
Kenaiesance culbure. cenlury Enlighl,enln archileclure,Golh- mentrgaw e?aceao ic cathedralehad eomethinqtro be con-
or chronomeNer, made been?o?ulahedwith if,eaVVearance. groleequeqargoyleo
quered.Vlapewere purqedof all elemenNe
Thesenewconce?- and angels.DuNLhese of fanNasyand reliqion Nionsof sVaceand qaveway,in lhe baand becameabsNracf, time werereflecf,ed
roqueera,f,o a more exVansive archiheclure, to lhe eoarinq enerqieeof Dach'e
qeomeNric, cold, mathematical,and etrictly funcIional. Bothtime and
fugueeand the ex-
o?acebecameuni-
Vaneiveimaqeeof o?aceand time in
form, mechanical,
John Donne'sVoetry.
Iime. but if the whole
NewDonian o?aceand
7uI thie new,infi-
worldcould be envi-
nile, meagured
eionedae uniform,it
imaqeof time and
landcouldbe laid ouI
o?aceeNillreflectred on a grid and divided God'eqlory. u? equally-ae wae d o n ei n t h e U n i I e d St atee-trhen thie couldcreate f,he
braNedGod's infinitreqlory but dioplayedIhe dimensions of a universe Ihal couldbe dominaf,edby MAN, And ueedby Man for hie own freedom.No lonqerwouldone fear fallingoff the edqeof Nheeafth int o Ihe mouf,hof a coemic mongf,er. EuroVeane thouqhl lhat, now Ihere wae a Vlacein this conquerable e?acefor everyone. Africa could Vrovide slaves,and oiher basiefor equalityin
wholeuniformqrid of
conlinenbsand climee
oociety,lf, could cre-
Ihe qlobe,Spacewao
could Vrovideraw
ate Nhebasislor
knowable, and
mat erialsfor lhe
democracy.
throughEuclidean
imVerialEuroVean
qeomeIry,conquer-
and American?ower6.
ln other worde,
trheviewof a ratrional, able.1pace, natstre,
Thechronometer
uniformqrid of 6?ace
and trheworldcould
and trimeallowed
be measured,known
allowedtime,like g?ace,Io be geenae
Enliqhlenmenl
and dominated.
mathemal,icaland
thinkerst o envision
For Enliqhtrenmenl uniform.Timenow
colonialand uNoVian
thinkersthis vaet
t,ickedaway in a
planothal couldbe
qrid of epaceand
et raighl linefrom the
rolledout, overT,he
time no lonqercele-
Vaet,lo trhefuture,
9imilarly,workere
rul
in variouscountries beqanto oympathize Voderniem
.\?
\.6..2 =
:l
wilh eachotrher, and in such an
eaw Lhe break- environment, lhe Communis| inq up of Lheee Manifeelo,couldgain an audience.
uniform,linear,conceptriono of opaceand
Lime.DurinqLhe Enliqhbenment eocialtime and Vhyeicaltrimehad merqed,had becomeuniformand mabhemabical. Timehad become
AfLer1B5O,Ihe major Euro?ean naNioneexpandedqlobally, etriVVinqmuchof the e?ace in Nheworld of iNeVrevioue nameeand ueee.ll becameroutine for nations,cilies and individualeto be deeVlyinluenced
Vroqreeeive. Butrin the mid-ninetreenlh cenLury,thie ?roqreaoiveeenee
by evenlslhousands of milee away,The radio,Ihe mol,orcar,
of lime wae ehaken.Vany Euro-
and Nhetrain acceleraledtheee
?eanewho had pafricipatedin uVrieinqsand revolulionehad had a Iaele of exVloeive T,ime, ThoeecaughT, up in class otrug-
developmenVe,
qlee had a eeneeof alternalinq, cyclicIime. Also,by the mid-nineLeenLh cenf,ury,iN becameevjdent,thal economicand socialtime had chanqed.With improvemenlein t ranepo(Cat ion and communicaf,ione,all of Europewae becominq economic ally interdeVendent. If Taris should euffer a financial crisie,Nhecrieis also affectred Londonand berlin.
Howcould any wrif,er,T,hen, still write a realisNicnovelwilh a Vlot unfolding?aqe after ?aqe in eimVle,et ep-by-eLeV, chronoloqicalorder?
Now,in the
Writers
Toebmodern
e u c ha s
world,rhe
Flaubefi,, Trouet,and
ohrinkinqof
James
eVacehae
Joyce
chanqedNhe
beqant'o
waye lhat, moneyand
capt ure this
commodiliee
eeneeof g i m u lat n e o u a
oVeraIe,CaVilal
trimeby alf,erinq Nhesf,rucf,uresof their Vlobo. NheoEinstein'erevoluNionary riee of relativity chanqedthe Ver' ceVtrionof oVace
is noweleclronically movedaroundIhe qlobalmarketVlacewibhsuch raViditythat' it, hae los| much of if,eeNabilily and meaninq.ln our localeu?erwe can buy French markeT,g,
and time even
cheeeeeand wines,beersfrom
more.lmVreeoion-
Canada,Mexico,Asia and Euro?e, qreenbeanefrom SouIh America
iot Vaintere euch ae ManeNand Cezannebeqanlo
or Africa,Tahilianmanqoee,Cali-
decompoeetrhee?aceof object'e qo-object'e dieeolvwilhin Vaint,in inq into dabe of liqhL Cubismfur'
fornia celery,CanadianaVVleo,
in 1912,foundedthe seneeof time
made increasinqly
in socialrhythmo.lt became
uV of minorities
a??arenLtha| there are ae many
suchae Vietnameae, EasNern Europeane, Koreans, Africane,ef,c, Americane, Cenbral
eNc.)Vace is aleo
compreeoed in the ?o?uIhe obiecL.ln ther decompoeed lationsof the oo ciology Durkheim's EIementa ry ciliee, Forme of ReligioueLife, Vubliohed larqeet,
of e?aceand lime experiences as f,hereare ?eroVectrivee.
Pust Ae eVaceehrinkl moreand more,Nheindividual qualitiee of differenl epacee,differenl localihiee, qrowe in imVoftance.CefDainVrovinceein Francebecomevery impoftan| if Nheycan ?rovidea cefr,ainkind of wine
oVVooed ro f'he fixedaccumulationof the early zorh centrury, when corporaT'ione likeFord Mohor Companyand Lheir capiNalbaeicallyoat, in one placeand Vumpedoul cars for a relatrively ehablemarker. Harveybelievee that Ihe ephemeralily, collaqeand fraqmentalion of Toetrmodern aftifacte such ae booke,frlme,archiNectureand art, are oimVlymircoreof thie Vhenomenon of frexibleaccumulahion.
An examVleof thie ie trhemovieSladerunner, which contraineeiqnific ant ToeNmo dern elemente. "Olade Kunner"ig a Viclorian word for "Vrivatreeye." The film becamea cull film-and t,hena kind of natrional
eVecimen of Tosf,modernism. ltreven
inepiredWilliam Gibson'e
AlbhoughNheyhave
novelNeuromanaerand
beenqivenhumanemo-
lhe movemenf,lhaf,hae
tiong,lhey are con-
comeIo be knownas
sideredsomewhatdan-
ovberounk.
qeroue,and as Vafi, ol lheir qenetic?roqram,
-
((i
somef,hinglike maeke, o?eninqa letler, elc. All of trheeeimaqee concealinq"Cindy'o"
Untitled Film ?tills
I l9l Hypnotizedthem? T fl Yeo.Theflow of mediaimaqeohyVno'
face (whichie nol so
eeem otrranqelyfamil-
familiar lo ue) but,
iar. buf, this io only
remindinqu6 of eome- becaueeIhey were ineVired,in Varb, Ihinq familiar (yeL,
lizee and conditione
we cannol someT,hinq
by clich1efrom old
quile qraeV).
Dri7iINeDardot and )oVhia Lorenmovies.
ue.The hyVerreality
Whenyou oee one
of Vadonnaimaqee
of her Vholoe,you think you recognizea
becomeemore real NhanNheMadonna wanna-beswho imi-
characler or ecene from an old movieyou
t ale her.And Ihis
have6een,Dul, in
Vhenomenon-of lhe imaqebeing
fact,Ihe phot'osdo
more realthan t'he
opecificaceneoin any
human-is drama-
notrreVroduceany
movieebu| pullup in lized W VhotograVher What'we oee,t'hen, our mind'e eye t'he Cindytherman in a ie noI Cindytherman, kinds of vieualalich4e eeriesof Vhof'oqraVhe and roleo womenhave butran imaqeof a laken bet'ween1977 glarlef', a Vlayedin old moviee Vaooed-ouf' and 19BO ent'it'led we havegeen. hitch-hiker, a woman Untitled Film ?tille, The imaqeaare act'uallyall of Cindytherman,the phot'ograVher, hereelf,bu| we do nol, eee Cindytherman.Whal we eeeare imaqeothal a??ear in our mind'oeye. Theeeimaqeoact' 142
Thus,our momenf, io only of recoqnif,ion a n i l l u e i o nT.h o u q h Iheee imageeoeem lo refer No eomething oNherthan them' selveo,Iheyare all oufiace,all deVthlessness.
@
lhal whirl by wirh
Another Tootmod- such velocitythat ern arLifact ie MTV f,hey have been
ET El whyMrv?
etriVVedof all mean-
becauseit, is like a
of t ot al saturation
t ornadoof imagee
ae lhe meaninqlees
inq-refercinq only T ,lelevision,in tro olher imaqeefl Wall general,ie considered Nheaudiencehavinq t o be TosT,modern reachedthe point,
imaqeeqlowand fricker,makinqthe viewerinlo a kind of mindecreen.
barbiedollein compromieinq poeiT,ione, dreeeingthem up in boy'o
Butsomeof the imoges dO mokesense.Mostof the sit-comsond soopshove stories-qrrotives.
clothinq,or,ae lhe barbieLiberatrionOrqanization did, ewitchin7 the voice-boxee of barbiedolls wilh thoee of G.l.Joe.
E whqtmokes
AndNhaf,'ewhy
\.
is consideredto
[i
o novel or o film
ti !
be eepeoially Toslmodern. ---r/a gecaueefor \:
I
Postmodern? naalaaJ^--2
E Modernist novelgconcern
moel of IV,
trhemeelves with the limiteof individ-
narrative-hae been the norm. Ouf,Mry ie not basedon etories but,
ual congciousness\- howthe individual knowsNheworld.ln
"4
on disconneated
novelesuch as
flowe of images.Then
James Joyce'ePor-
there ie subvertleing,a
tmit of the Anist ao 5-r'
q c am--.;
