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The Postmodernist movement begun after World War II in which, high and low culture are questionable in the view of society and Art. The postmodernist movement in literature creates a new set of ideals for fiction, such as the metafiction, the fable like representation in novels, the pastiche, irony, and satire. Fredric Jameson speaks about the movement and its theory in his essay “Postmodernism and Consumer Society”. He questions postmodernism in society as it creates the new societal norm of popular culture. On the other hand, Jean Baudrillard analyzes the simulacra of postmodernism in “The Precession of Simulacra”. Baudrillard speaks of the “truth” and “reality” also as a questionable representation for the reader. Yet, both critics agree that postmodernist literature is depthless. Spiegelman’s Maus series is a metafiction, which tells the story of Art Spiegelman’s journey of writing this novel through the present-day retelling of Vladek Spiegelman’s life during the Holocaust. However, as a postmodernist text, Jameson and Baudrillard calls it depthless and an “unreal” representation. Nevertheless, the representation of Maus presents the characteristics of a postmodernist text, but argues that it is not depthless because of the representation of an authoritative view, a historical continuum, and the text does not depict itself as a mode of pop culture.
Postmodern literature contains an authoritative point of view as it expresses the “real” and the “unreal”. The authoritative viewpoint hides within the representation of words and the form of the text. Jean Baudrillard speaks of the masking of view in his essay, “Postmodernism and Consumer Society”, when he says, “This, feigning or dissimilating leaves the reality principle inta...
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...hat is lost” (Friedman 240).
Works Cited
Baudrillard, Jean. "The Precession of Simulacra". The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticis. 2001. Reprint. New York: Norton & Company, 2010. 1556-1566. Print.
Friedman, Ellen G. "Where Are the Missing Contents? (Post) Modernism, Gender, and the Canon." PMLA 108.2 (1993): 240-252. JSTOR . Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
Jameson, Fredric. "Postmodernism and Consumer Society". The Norton Anthology of Theory & Criticis. 2001. Reprint. New York: Norton & Company, 2010. 1846-1860. Print.
McGlothlin, Erin. "No Time like the Present: Narrative and Time in Art Spiegelman's "Maus"." Narrative 11.2 (2003): 177-198. JSTOR . Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus: a survivor's tale. New York: Pantheon Books, 1986. Print.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: a survivor's tale : and here my troubles began. New York: Pantheon Books, 1991. Print.
Art Spiegelman's Maus II is a book that tells more than the story of one family's struggle to live thought the Holocaust. It gives us a look into the psyche of a survivor's child and how the Holocaust affected him and many other generations of people who were never there at all. Maus II gives the reader a peek into the psyche of Art Spiegelman and the affects of having two parents that survived the Holocaust had on him. Spiegelman demonstrates the affects of being a survivor's child in many ways throughout the book. Examining some of these will give us a better understanding of what it was like to be a part of the Holocaust.
Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: A Survivor's Tale: And Here My Troubles Began. New York City:
Spiegelman, Art. Maus II: a Survivor’s Tale : And Here my Troubles Began. New York:
In Art Spiegelman’s Maus, the audience is led through a very emotional story of a Holocaust survivor’s life and the present day consequences that the event has placed on his relationship with the author, who is his son, and his wife. Throughout this novel, the audience constantly is reminded of how horrific the Holocaust was to the Jewish people. Nevertheless, the novel finds very effective ways to insert forms of humor in the inner story and outer story of Maus. Although the Holocaust has a heart wrenching effect on the novel as a whole, the effective use of humor allows for the story to become slightly less severe and a more tolerable read.
The books Maus I and Maus II, written by Art Spiegelman over a thirteen-year period from 1978-1991, are books that on the surface are written about the Holocaust. The books specifically relate to the author’s father’s experiences pre and post-war as well as his experiences in Auschwitz. The book also explores the author’s very complex relationship between himself and his father, and how the Holocaust further complicates this relationship. On a deeper level the book also dances around the idea of victims, perpetrators, and bystanders. The two books are presented in a very interesting way; they are shown in comic form, which provides the ability for Spiegelman to incorporate numerous ideas and complexities to his work.
Art Spiegelman is the author and artist of Maus. The complete Maus is composed of Maus I and Maus II. Maus I was published in 1986, Maus II was published in 1991. The protagonists for this book are Vladek Spiegelman, a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and Art Spiegelman, Vladek’s cartoonist son. Volume I for the most part takes place in Poland, with Vladek describing his experience during Hitler’s rule to Art. Volume II is mainly on how the cartoonist Art struggles to make the book he has been working on of his parent’s journey during the Holocaust come together. In the following I will explain in more depth the setting, characters, and the art of this extraordinary book.
REFERENCESJean Baudrillard Simulations--1983 Semiotext[e]. America--1988 (English Edition) Verso. Seduction--1990 (English Edition) St. Martin’s Press. The Illusion of the End--1994 (English Edition) Stanford University Press. Simulacra and Simualtion--1994 (English Edition) University of Michigan Press. Jean-Francois Lyotard The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge--1984 (English Edition) University of Minnesota Press. The Postmodern Exaplained--1993 (English Edition) University of Minnesota Press. Michel Foucault Madness and Civilization--1973 Vintage Books. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison--1977 Vintage Books. The History of Sexuality--1980 Vintage Books. Linda Hutcheon A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Thoery Fiction--1988 Routledge. The Politics or Postmodernism--1989 Routledge.
When reading a traditional book, it is up to the reader to imagine the faces and landscapes that are described within. A well written story will describe the images clearly so that you can easily picture the details. In Art Spiegelman’s The Complete Maus, the use of the animals in place of the humans offers a rather comical view in its simplistic relation to the subject and at the same time develops a cryptic mood within the story. His drawings of living conditions in Auschwitz; expressions on the faces of people enduring torture, starvation, and despair; his experience with the mental institution and his mother’s suicide; and occasional snapshots of certain individuals, create a new dynamic between book and reader. By using the form of the graphic novel, Art Spiegelman created a narrative accompanied by pictures instead of needing to use immense worded detail.
The Jew Holocaust is one of the horrific events in which many great works of literature present the aftermath of the Holocaust using a different medium. One of the outstanding pieces of literature by Art Spiegelman the Maus written in the 1980s, which is a different literary composition, based on the Holocaust events. With his graphic novel, Maus, Art Spiegelman explored his father's experience as a Holocaust survivor
...“Some Common Themes and Ideas within the Field of Postmodern Thought: A handout for HIS 389,” last modified May 13,2013,
Postmodernism is a vague term that can describe a variety of disciplines that include, architecture, art, music, film, fashion, literature…etc. (Klages). In the case of “Videotape”, postmodern literature would be the main focus or area of study. This type of literature emerged in the era that succeeded World War II and relies heavily on the use of techniques such as, fragmentation, the creation of paradoxes, and questionable protagonists. Furthermore, postmodern literature also exudes ambiguity and critical thinking where the focus is mainly on the reader and his/her experience of the work rather than the content and form. Building upon that, the selected passag...
Parpart, Jane and Marchand M. (1995) “Part one: Exploding the canon: an Introduction/Conclusion”, in Marchand, Marianne and Parpart, Jane (eds) Feminism Postmodernism Devlopment, London; New York: Routledge: 1-23.
Postmodernism first appeared around the 1980’s, following a hectic and messy period of time. The postmodernist theory that defines a new era describing the world as society is fragmenting, while authority is de-centering, and real truth does not exist; there are only representations of it. Believers of the postmodernist theory, believe that postmodernism is a mixture of present, past, and future, more specifically, the cultural and spatial elements of these different times (Lemert, 2010). The postmodern age is considered the information age, or even, the technological age. Both of these are evident through the changes that have occurred within the typical marriage and family. One of the main emphases of postmodernism is that no real truth exists, demonstrating the grand narrative. The grand narrative states that the “truth” is invented for the sole purpose of selling things. This is clearly shown, in a different manner, in marriages and families in today’s society. No real truth being in existence creates change in the typical marriage and family.
Sassatelli, R. (2007). Consumer Culture: History, Theory and Politics, London: Sage, Page 30, Page 126, Page 132, Page 133
Postmodern literary criticism asserts that art, author, and audience can only be approached through a series of mediating contexts. "Novels, poems, and plays are neither timeless nor transcendent" (Jehlen 264). Even questions of canon must be considered within a such contexts. "Literature is not only a question of what we read but of who reads and who writes, and in what social circumstances...The canon itself is an historical event; it belongs to the history of the school" (Guillory 238,44).