Modernism and "The Wasteland"
I should first warn everyone that I wrote the majority of this post Monday after the lecture, so there will be some discrepancies in my references to the day seeing as how I am posting this entry today and not Monday (as I had initially intended). Here it goes
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Maybe I can shed some light one this too. Bare with me, I'm at my parents house and my entire bookshelf of reference philosophy is not at hand.
Janice is totally correct Lesley-Ann, Buddha isn't a god. I can't really come up with a similar personage in Christian philosophy that I could compare him to. While my knowledge of Buddhism is pretty cookie-cutter, I think it's safe to mention that Buddhism is mostly about living in tolerance and well-being, not about god-fearing. I think this might be why so many jilted Modernists explored this way of thinking.
You have some correct ideas though, Lesley-Ann. WWI is not the crusades. It was fought on religious politics, not on the politics of religion. So, not fought for people, but fought for nations. It's pretty easy to see that any sort of large-scale bloodshed like WWI is enough to make a lot of people question their religious beliefs. However, this "trend", if we can call it that, started well before WWI with existentialist philosophers. The statement you have used "God is Dead" can be credited to one Friedrich Nietszche, who's dates are 1844-1900, before WWI. If you're interested in learning more about that, try reading "The Gay Science". It's hard, but it's worth it.
And Janice is also correct about Post-modernisim. While it is refered to as "the death of the author" it basically means that in this day and age, we credit meaning, or how meaning is formed to the reader of piece, rather than the author. Chronologically, you have the Realists who believed that if everyone had enough of the same facts the same universal truth would be reached, the Romantics who were still sort of realists, but they rejected industrial means amd promoted the imagination, the Modernists who questioned meaning and sought to confuse it, and then Post-modernists who attempt to have the reader choose their own meaning. The best example of popular post-modernist work I can think of is "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". You know how at the end, Kate Winslet's character and Jim Carrey's character decide to have another relationship? Well, what makes this post-modernist, is that we never see in the movie how this second relationship works out. The viewer is kind of left to digest everything they've seen and come up with their own conclusion as to whether or not the second relationship worked out. That's death of the author. Because the author isn't telling you straight up that relationships are worth it, he's making you figure it out for yourself. I hope that explains it. :D
I don't think everyone likes this poem. Haha, I think I might be the only person I have ever met who does. I like it because it's different. I love the meter, and the way words on the page are considered. I love that it's a challenge, and that it makes you want to delve into literature and figure out all the hidden refrences and meanings. I'm pretty much a fan of anything composed with intelligence. That's the best I can do. It's my unexplainable love. :)
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Janice
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And yeah, buddhism is pretty lucrative. I like the jist but I'm too unwilling to claim any sort of beliefs system completely. And I'm already a vegetarian, so I don't want to come off as too "trendy". hahah
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As for Buddhism, I just cannot unprogram myself from what I already believe and subscibe to Buddhist beliefs, plus I find the doctrine to be illogical. Anyhow, I am also a vegetarian, animal rights activist (although I don't do much activism...) and a feminist, it would also look quite bad if I were to become another 'ist' of any variety.
Janice
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