Modernity and Postmodernity: from Baudelaire to Derrida
Summary
"One must be absolutely modern." With this imperative, Rimbaud reveals the paradoxical essence of modernity, a concept that is neither sociological, nor political, nor historical, and which, according to Baudrillard, is opposed to tradition. In the 19th century, with Baudelaire's The Flowers of Evil, modernity appears in literature and imposes itself in the avant-garde movements, while "the game of indeterminacy and immanence," introduced by Marcel Duchamp, announces postmodernity (Hassan).
Being both cultural facts and conceptual categories, how do modernity and postmodernity translate into literature? Do they use specific forms? Do they serve as a relevant model to understand different instances of cultural production and, more specifically, literature? These questions will guide the course and the reading of excerpts of selected works, mainly constituted by texts originally written in French.
What Do We Study
The course will focus on the interdisciplinary study of literature, philosophy, political theory and the arts (painting, cinema, contemporary art) analysing the changes that occur after the classical period and that give rise to what we call Modernity and Postmodernity.
The fragments of literary works will focus on texts by Baudelaire, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Apollinaire, Tzara, Breton, Duras, Borges, Ernaux, Echenoz o Houellebecq, which will be related to theoretical texts written by the authors themselves or by other thinkers such as Foucault, Lyotard, Derrida, Rancière, Moufe or Marchart, among others. The artistic works will be presented throughout the course and will also be related to the theoretical texts.
Which is the Line of Thought
From a philosophical and political perspective, works of Modernity and Postmodernity will be approached in order to question the validity of these concepts in our way of understanding the mutations of the contemporary world.
Theoretical and Practical Approaches
Compagon, Antoine. Las cinco paradojas de la modernidad. Trans. by Julieta Fombona Zuloaga. Monte Ávila editores, 1991.
Compagnon, Antoine. Los antimodernos. El Acantilado, 2007.
Debray, Régis. Elogio de las fronteras. Gedisa, 2016.
Jameson, Fredric. Teoría de la posmodernidad. Trans. by Celia Montolía & Ramón de Castillo. Trotta, 2001.
Jauss, Hans-Robert. “Tradición literaria y conciencia actual de la Modernidad”. La literatura como provocación. Trans. by Joan Godo. Península, 1976.
Lyotard, Jean-François. La condició postmoderna. Trans. by Francesc Pons & Joan Pipó. Angle, 2004.
Paz, Octavio. Traducción: Literatura y literalidad. Tusquets Editores, 1990.