Postmodernism is
dead. Or so say Avant-Popists. Or so said
Avant-Popists close to twenty years ago. So, looking at it today, has Avant-Pop
deflated and died as well? Or has it exploded, continuing to combat the
fractured yet ironically monolithic technological medium that has us updating
Facebook with pictures for our status, while Tweeting about our innermost
superficial thoughts, on our way to buy an organic muffin trucked in from out
of town, to be washed down with a strong cup of fair-trade coffee from caffeine
giant Starbucks, before we head into the nearest stadium-style theater to watch
the latest reboot of a multi-million dollar movie franchise based on a TV
character made popular in the eighties from a comic book first published in the
sixties?
Mark Amerika and
Lance Olsen’s In Memoriam to
Postmodernism: Essays on the Avant-Pop asked questions in 1995 that we just
might be able to answer today. A collection of definitions, essays, and musings,
ending with manifestos for the movement, In
Memoriam’s organization serves to first explain the measuring tape and then
present us with what is to be measured, allowing the reader to move fluidly
from the issues of the early nineties to a consideration of what they mean
today.
Amerika and
Olsen begin the collection with a nod to the neophyte, a slow roll into the
twists, turns, and dark alleys of Avant-Pop. Most appealing, and amusing, is
the “Avant-Pop Quiz” and “Click Here for More Information” sections, where in
the former the editors attempt to frame that which refuses to be hung, while
providing a catch-all reading list in the latter.
After the
introduction, velocity picks up and celebrated Avant-Pop writers and theorists
take over. The table of contents is a media-drunk cavalcade marching in to tear
the house down, including such notable names as SDSU’s Larry McCaffery, Harry
Polkinhorn, and a wonderfully salacious piece of trans-media “Zipper-Bustin’ ”
by Harold Jaffe; the revered (or Avant-Pop Reverend?) Ronald Sukenick; Eurudice;
award-winning Japanese scholar Takayuki Tatsumi; and “[a manifesto of sorts]”
by “major influence on the avant-set” Raymond Federman.
In Memorium to Postmodernism runs the gamut of topics: Curtis White
examines cultural politics, Brooks Landon looks at the hypertextual novel and
the future of publishing, Martin Schecter discusses generational divides (an
issue swirling around the entire collection and even more poignant in 2012),
David Blair dives into film and virtual worlds, and Michael Joyce scrutinizes
the tenuous relationship between reading and meaning. A particularly favorite
piece from the collection is Steven Shaviro’s “Strategies of Disappearance: or
Why I Love Dean Martin.” And damnit, now I love Dino too. So will you.
Lance Olsen
brings the collection to a close, and puts forth a challenge to today’s readers,
by forcing us to look at the “Alzheimer’s province in the United States of
Amnesia…a pioneer consciousness that doesn’t like to look over its shoulder,
check out the rearview mirror, environmentally, militarily, culturally, because
objects back there are always larger than they appear.”
In the living
age of hypertexts, the death of publishing, “Reality” T.V., YouTube, mash-ups
(one of the new words now featured in the updated Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary), instantaneous American Idol voting, CNN’s reporters on
the street, and political revolutions sparked by social media, Yeats’ beast is
no longer slouching towards Bethlehem to be born. It’s already here and
indulging itself at the Hyperconsumer Capitalist party (thanks for the image
McCaffery…I’m officially frightened fecal-less).
In 1995, In Memoriam to Postmodernism: Essays on the
Avant-Pop asked if we were ready to face the technologically fueled
cultural Armageddon coming at us. With relationships between writer and reader,
consumer and producer shifting and reversing so quickly we can’t tell who is
who anymore, it’s time to look back at these questions so we can start
answering them. That is, if we’ve got the stones to do it.
MORE CONTEMPORARY LEAPS INTO AVANT-POP?
This isn't just an essay...
it’s a clinic and a reading list from Jonathan Lethem
Self-proclaimed
epiphany addict and techno optimist Jason Silva...
on topics that would get Timothy Leary high
pacificREVIEW’s 2016 issue Lurking Anonymity explores the mysterious—and perpetually convoluted—relationships that are now sustained within the digital age. This intricate entanglement between technology and our sense of self oscillates between virtual life and real life, with our id now being composed of immediate gratification through like buttons that have disguised themselves as intimacy. Lurking Anonymity captures the millennial perspective, with thought provoking and imaginative pieces, through diverse mediums varying from fiction and poetry to artwork and even an analytical essay. The issue often times condemns the hold that the virtual realm has on reality, but it also brilliantly promotes the strength of this simulated world through its ability to connect in unconventional ways. Lurking Anonymity explores the perceptions of current society within the modern world and its effect on thought processes and personal relationships making the issue one that is undoubtedly a snapshot of this generation.
