LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:3 March 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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M. S. Thirumalai
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The Quandary of Human Minds in
Post-Modern Perspectives

Amzi Azmi, M.A. English Literature

Abstract

This article will feature the presentation of the idea of uncertainty and self-alienation as the dominant themes of postmodern literature with the references to Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot (1953), Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter (1960) and Edward Albee’s The Zoo Story (1960). These three post-modern works are marked for its quintessential representations of post-modernity both from the stylistic sides such as recalcitrant stage directions and from the thematic aspects such as uncertainty and self-alienation.

The term postmodernism will be elaborated as a diverse and controversial topic of debates of literary intellectuals. Jameson’s definition of post-modernism will be reviewed in order to clarify it as the reaction to modernist attempts. The explanation of the social degradation of human society will be discussed which is the pivotal aspect of postmodern society. Also, the question that how the writers have marked those features and associated them with their literary characters will be answered based on the above mentioned three texts. Comparative discussions will be shown to make the arguments more logical and the concept of postmodernism in literature will also be explained to be defined as an encapsulated form of revolting against traditionalism and modernist concepts is all sectors.

Keywords:post-modernism, waiting, expectation, uncertainty, self-alienation, depression, mistrust, pessimism, optimism.

Analysis

Post-modernism is an argued term considered as an unconventional sensation, which emerged as a feedback in contradiction of the modernist conception. It has a deep impression in differentiated fields and recent literary progresses are also saturated with the traits and trials. Post-modernism is highly marked in architectural dimension: Postmodernism in architecture was reactionary (like Waught) in rejecting the modernist project; it proposed to revive pre-modernist manners such as eclecticism, the playful collaging of diverse styles within one building or development, a return to the use of Graeco-Roman pillars and capitals, and the entire ornamental vocabulary of classicism.( Wheale, 1995, p.41)

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Azmi Azam, M.A. English Literature
Arts, Law and Social Science Faculty
Department of English, Communication, Film and Media
Anglia Ruskin University
Cambridge, England
azmiazam13@yahoo.com
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