What is Postmodernism?
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- Опубликовано: 2 сен 2020
- In this video we take a look at what Postmodernism is, and how it relates to both classical music and popular music. Despite what some right-wing/conservatives/chuds like Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro, etc. might want you to think, postmodernism isn’t evil, it doesn’t spell the end of western civilization or judeo-christian values, it’s really not that big of a deal. So it’s my job, as resident left-winger/karen/SJW to tell you what postmodernism really is, and what it means for music and musicians.
Postmodernism was a movement in philosophy and the arts that started mostly after WWII and was characterised as a departure from Modernism. That’s it. Nothing more. Despite what Jordan Peterso and Ben Shapiro wants you to think, postmodernism is not evil. It’s not a threat to judeo-Christian values, in fact it doesn’t necessarily stand for anything at all, it’s just a framework through which to understand culture.
Postmodernism describes a set of similar values which lots of different artistic movements might exhibit. These include: a rejection of ideologies or grand, sweeping statements about the world; irony; skepticism; and a suspicion towards clear cut rationality.
The pre-war 20th century was quite hopeful in nature- ideas of utopia and an excitement for the new were thrown around, but the horrors of WWI and WWII would taint this hope. People had seen the darkness within humanity, and ideas which seemed so clear to people before were no longer so obvious, and everything was up for debate..
To sum it all up, Modernism and Postmodernism are essentially sets of values or ideas which characterise a historical period. Art in the early 20th century often had similar themes, and that’s why we group stuff made during that time under Modernism. The exact same be said for postmodernism, just for different values under a different time frame.
These postmodern values of irony and building on from modernism fed very much into music at the time - many artists can be linked to the postmodern period: Grace Jones, Andy Warhol, Kate Bush, etc. David Bowie’s music was massively popular and considered by some purists as base, but very often carried hidden commentary on culture. Some people interpret Bowie’s lyrics in Life on Mars as a direct comment on the American dream. Referencing the empty promises of capitalism and western ideals.
George Crumb, in the 70s, created one of the most famous pieces of postmodern classical music. “Black Angels”. Crumb stated in the score that the piece was written “in a time of war”- potentially referencing the bloody Vietnam war going on at the time. The piece is commonly interpreted as a criticism of the shambolic war that America was waging in Vietnam. The first movement, Night of the Electric Insects, involves screeching violins with lurching dynamics. These “electric insects” could be interpreted as the sound of American helicopters on Vietnamese soil.
The piece also commands abstract imagery of devils and fallen “Black” angels, perhaps as a direct commentary on the state of America itself. Gone were the naive ideas of the USA as a benevolent superpower- postmodernists observed the atrocities America and other western powers were committing across the world, and their art built on these modernist ideas. The moral mythology of America was a delusion and a farce, and the ideals that once held the West up as exceptional were now shown to have never existed. America had fallen from grace- and Crumb, in his music, saw his own home country as a “Black Angel”.
Most academics agree that we are currently out of postmodernism. People don’t yet know what to call this period, or even if we should be giving it a name, but some labels like post-postmodernism, or metamodernism get thrown around occasionally. What this means for music is still up for debate. We could carry on with the trends of the 20th century, continuing to deconstruct, or we could go in a completely different direction. Right now we don’t know- only as we step back into the 21st century will we truly begin to see the bigger picture.
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Funeral March (by Chopin) by Chopin
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Music provided by FreeMusic109 / freemusic109
Waltz of the Flowers (by Tchaikovsky) by Tchaikovsky
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Music provided by FreeMusic109 / freemusic109
Gymnopedie No. 3 by Wahneta Meixsell
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Music provided by FreeMusic109 / freemusic109
9:51 If postmodernists were building and refining what the modernists did, then how can they be considered part of a completely separate era in music and not just another extension of Modernism?
I love your videos so much! They are always so interesting and comforting to watch!
Great concise overview great have more music content though, art student and philosopher at heart
maybe it's impossible to give a name to present music or in future, bcuz so many styles/genres of artists are composing creating producing right at this moment
It's just memes
Great job man. Keep it up.
Love this!
Great video. Would also like to point out that pkstmodern conservatism is a thing
Great video. It's getting weird out there.
so, IMHO the situation now has broken the music industry to the individual level. What the period (we are in) might be called is up to the historians and critics.
Wow this was beautiful
Hello . can i used this video for my reporting ?. just for educational purposes only.
Yeah sure
It's not just the right wing that takes issue with postmodernism.
thank you
I think they are going too far in making themselves meaningful and at the same time rejecting the meaning or subject matter for spectators.
It's funny that there is expressionism and impressionism but both are basically the same thing; expressionist art expresses the artist's impression of the object, while impressionist art expresses his/er impressions of the subject, aka the artist's fantasy.
That's interesting idea, I've never thought about it that way
One takes Monet and Pollock and even doubts if they’re not the same person.
Great vid
Thanks 💚
I just can't help recommending this ditty country song throwing little jabs at atonal Music:
m.ruclips.net/video/gzodB0Sp6ZI/видео.html
Ya go to the gift shop at the end of the gallery. Also, some Judeo-Christian values are trash and deserve to be erased. Good vid tho, gimme more.
What a wonderful, thoughtful, totally spontaneous comment! Thank you person i do not know