Characteristics of postmodernism can clearly be seen throughout The Joy Luck Club. For example, the article from the dictionary says a characteristic of the time period is feminism, and this relates to The Joy Luck Club because the author, Amy Tan, was a feminist writer. The article also states being multicultural as a characteristic of postmodernism writing. This relates to the novel because not only is the protagonist of the novel, June, Asian-American, but also is Amy Tan. These characteristics of the time were elaborated further when the article mentions that postmodernism was also a time for “writers who had traditionally been excluded from literary canons—women and ethnic and racial minorities” to move into the spotlight. This is an accurate representation of Amy Tan and major themes brought up in The Joy Luck Club. An example would be June. She is a girl of an ethnic minority who is growing up in a land dominated by white people, America, and is struggling to incorporate both American and Asian cultures into her life. Another connection The Joy Luck Club has to postmodernism is that in the article, the author mentions that postmodernism saw an increase in “(auto)biographies.” With the similarities between Amy Tan and June, The Joy Luck Club is practically Tan’s autobiography.
The article states that postmodernism is a period where understanding the world is becoming easier than ever and knowledge is becoming increasingly accessible, so people have a better understanding of what is real and what is not. This is increasingly obvious in The Joy Luck Club in the animosity between the older and younger generations. The daughters are Americanized and have been exposed to this overload of information their entire lives, so they feel as if they know everything and believe that their mothers are crazy when they talk about Chinese folklore and superstitions. “The fragmentation, intertextuality, and discontinuity that characterize so much of experimental modernist and postmodernist literature find a kind of fulfillment in the inherently fragmented, intertextual, and discontinuous form of "hypertext," a computer-generated Web text with multiple branching links.” This quote fits with the fact that the book by Tan is a weaving text with chapter narrated by a different character at different points in their life, yet still connected to other characters and the storyline itself Another comment is that during the postmodern period, more stories of people’s lives or stories of alternative cultures have risen and are the most prolific. Amy Tan is a wonderful example of an author for this point. She represents the Chinese culture from an Americanized person’s view, but also still has connections to that culture. Also, many points of her life are inserted into the novel as a part of a character’s history that still meshes with the overarching themes of the book.
Postmodernism is a literary period where writers who are lesser known become the "center of the literary world." Before this time period, female writers were not publicly famous for composing "literary canons." This new literary time brought about several female writers into the spotlight. Amy Tan became extremely well-known for her first published novel The Joy Luck Club. Even though being a famous female author was a trademark feature of postmodern artists, she contained another feature which was more memorable. Her Chinese heritage brought a different quality of writing to her novels. This racial difference was also another main characteristic of postmodern artists. Amy Tan tied in many features of her true life to the lives of her characters in her novels. In The Joy Luck Club, all of the girls who tell us their stories have Chinese in their blood. Like Amy Tan, all of the girls also battle with their families trying to find themselves. Another predominant feature of the Joy Luck Club that fits into the postmodern literary movement is the concept of many smaller stories. Instead of one huge concept in a novel, several smaller stories make up one huge novel. According to the article, "postmodernism has gone from Histories, with a capital H, to histories, a small h."
Darian "postmodernism has gone from Histories, with a capital H, to histories, a small h." I do agree that this quote was very incorporated into the Joy Luck Club with its multi-part stories and how it used different parts of the women's stories to show an overall theme.
I agree with Jordyn in that the mother-daughter conflict that is apparent in The Joy Luck Club is a refection of postmodernism times. I also agree with Jordyn and Darian when they say that "postmodernism has gone from Histories, with a capital H, to histories, a small h" demonstrates a major theme in women’s stories and is an overall theme.
I think Jordan makes a good point when she mentions that all of the stories in The Joy Luck Club are different, but each are interconnected with each other. The same also correlated with Amy Tan's American life still having ties to her Chinese heritage.
Characteristics of postmodernism can clearly be seen throughout The Joy Luck Club. For example, the article from the dictionary says a characteristic of the time period is feminism, and this relates to The Joy Luck Club because the author, Amy Tan, was a feminist writer. The article also states being multicultural as a characteristic of postmodernism writing. This relates to the novel because not only is the protagonist of the novel, June, Asian-American, but also is Amy Tan. These characteristics of the time were elaborated further when the article mentions that postmodernism was also a time for “writers who had traditionally been excluded from literary canons—women and ethnic and racial minorities” to move into the spotlight. This is an accurate representation of Amy Tan and major themes brought up in The Joy Luck Club. An example would be June. She is a girl of an ethnic minority who is growing up in a land dominated by white people, America, and is struggling to incorporate both American and Asian cultures into her life. Another connection The Joy Luck Club has to postmodernism is that in the article, the author mentions that postmodernism saw an increase in “(auto)biographies.” With the similarities between Amy Tan and June, The Joy Luck Club is practically Tan’s autobiography.
ReplyDeleteThe article states that postmodernism is a period where understanding the world is becoming easier than ever and knowledge is becoming increasingly accessible, so people have a better understanding of what is real and what is not. This is increasingly obvious in The Joy Luck Club in the animosity between the older and younger generations. The daughters are Americanized and have been exposed to this overload of information their entire lives, so they feel as if they know everything and believe that their mothers are crazy when they talk about Chinese folklore and superstitions.
ReplyDelete“The fragmentation, intertextuality, and discontinuity that characterize so much of experimental modernist and postmodernist literature find a kind of fulfillment in the inherently fragmented, intertextual, and discontinuous form of "hypertext," a computer-generated Web text with multiple branching links.” This quote fits with the fact that the book by Tan is a weaving text with chapter narrated by a different character at different points in their life, yet still connected to other characters and the storyline itself
Another comment is that during the postmodern period, more stories of people’s lives or stories of alternative cultures have risen and are the most prolific. Amy Tan is a wonderful example of an author for this point. She represents the Chinese culture from an Americanized person’s view, but also still has connections to that culture. Also, many points of her life are inserted into the novel as a part of a character’s history that still meshes with the overarching themes of the book.
Postmodernism is a literary period where writers who are lesser known become the "center of the literary world." Before this time period, female writers were not publicly famous for composing "literary canons." This new literary time brought about several female writers into the spotlight. Amy Tan became extremely well-known for her first published novel The Joy Luck Club. Even though being a famous female author was a trademark feature of postmodern artists, she contained another feature which was more memorable. Her Chinese heritage brought a different quality of writing to her novels. This racial difference was also another main characteristic of postmodern artists. Amy Tan tied in many features of her true life to the lives of her characters in her novels. In The Joy Luck Club, all of the girls who tell us their stories have Chinese in their blood. Like Amy Tan, all of the girls also battle with their families trying to find themselves. Another predominant feature of the Joy Luck Club that fits into the postmodern literary movement is the concept of many smaller stories. Instead of one huge concept in a novel, several smaller stories make up one huge novel. According to the article, "postmodernism has gone from Histories, with a capital H, to histories, a small h."
ReplyDeleteDarian
ReplyDelete"postmodernism has gone from Histories, with a capital H, to histories, a small h."
I do agree that this quote was very incorporated into the Joy Luck Club with its multi-part stories and how it used different parts of the women's stories to show an overall theme.
I agree with Jordyn in that the mother-daughter conflict that is apparent in The Joy Luck Club is a refection of postmodernism times. I also agree with Jordyn and Darian when they say that "postmodernism has gone from Histories, with a capital H, to histories, a small h" demonstrates a major theme in women’s stories and is an overall theme.
ReplyDeleteI think Jordan makes a good point when she mentions that all of the stories in The Joy Luck Club are different, but each are interconnected with each other. The same also correlated with Amy Tan's American life still having ties to her Chinese heritage.
ReplyDelete