David Foster Wallace on Postmodernism

David Foster Wallace has been called a postmodernist writer since the start of his career. However, what are Wallace's thoughts on postmodernism? In this video, Wallace discusses how to integrate postmodernism into your writing, its impact on society, and the genius of David Lynch.
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[@gilbertoflores7397]

The biggest issue with postmodernism is that while its a good way of viewing the layers of something, and helping developing a method of understanding. Deconstruction doesn't actually build anything after you go through the whole process of criticizing the idea, just some loosey goosey hopes of what might come.

[@Carvaka]

I don’t think that it’s just deconstruction. From what I understand about Heidegger, he deconstructed the Cartesian “I think therefore I am” ontology, indicating that a state of “being” comes before everything else. But he also redefined our state of “being” as indivisible from the world in time and space. That your ability to “be” and the world around you are completely interlinked rather than existing separately as subject and object. Which has implications for how we choose to live and understand the world, when we go from viewing our surroundings like we’re exploring them in a wetsuit to viewing our surroundings as a part of us. Or like it’s a flow of new broth mixing into our own conscious soup. Heidegger expands on this reconstruction of the nature of “being,” using it to explain elements of the human experience like our use of tools and obsession with technology. This shift in thought builds avenues for introspection and determining how to live.

[@gilbertoflores7397]

@@Carvaka no one lives the same life, but also everyone lives the same lives, everything there is to know about the human experience is already been said or written. It's just a matter of being able to find the example that it was articulated in a way for you to understand it. Even though the details, aesthetics, and culture can be different, the feelings and fears of being human resonate across time, culture, technology, and genders. Postmodernism is about ego and thinking you're smarter than the collective knowledge that came before. My simplified understanding of modernism is that it is building upon the collective knowledge from the past to further or "remix" what we've learned so far and push it forward even a little with our rendition. Postmodernism is about burning it all down and being cynical to some extent, with a lot of familiar ideas from something else being including, not thinking that others from other fields would know, as I've experienced a lot of such ideas in different fields of study, or talking to other people in a different field having an almost similar idea but applied differently.

[@Carvaka]

@@gilbertoflores7397 I don’t feel that postmodernism is about thinking that you’re smarter than the collective knowledge. In my experience, it’s been more about learning how to engage with collective knowledge through a more thoughtful and critical lens rather than blindly give yourself to it or casually accepting it as Truth.

[@gilbertoflores7397]

@@Carvaka "critical lens", "blindly giving yourself to it", "casually accepting it as truth". As if you don't think it's truth? Sounds a bit like you think you know better 😉. Modernism is about learning the fundamentals first and applying it to your story and knowledge. Then using it to form your own "truth" in relation to everything else that's come before, your work, working in tandem with the past knowledge, as it's going to be influenced by the previous work just with your flavor, your history, and your conclusions about your time. That is modernism. Because older literature is more than just the story, it's also it's history, and background. Postmodernism involves the whole new criticism about the authors intent not being relevant, art separate the from artist.

[@Carvaka]

@@gilbertoflores7397 I never said that I know better, as it’s not really about whether I think that it’s the truth or not. I’ve experienced postmodernism to be more about not taking what is taught or purported for granted as accurate, instead approaching each narrative with caution but also with curiosity in how they flow into the broth of your worldview.

[@Daveye663]

Shoutout A Straight Story! My fav Lynch film. A hard “G” rating to say the least. Norm Macdonald does an amazing impression of Farnsworth at the bar talking to the other vet.

[@jordanramsey5763]

Bro. This infinite jest book is long af. Ty I needed a challenge.

[@hdcbpxsytahdcbpx]

just finished Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, thanks for introducing me to DFW!

[@ggmagnusssx]

The only thing that can make your channel to grow even more is this : Bring other interest writers perspectives , like Brett Easton Ellis/murakami for example , analyze his philosophy and writing style . Don’t get me wrong , I watch all your videos and support your channel from day 1 , but not everybody likes so much to know more about Wallace and Cormac. I do , for sure . This is just a opinion that can help you grow , as I know that you have this desire for your channel , this would be a important step .

[@maxwindom1200]

He’s got a few Murakami videos

[@ggmagnusssx]

@@maxwindom1200 it was just a example for him to expand to other writers

[@Josh-et4ki]

I disagree. The reason I like the channel is that it goes in depth about a couple authors at a time. Depth is much more important than Breadth.

[@ggmagnusssx]

@@Josh-et4ki yes , I agree with you , I not telling to him go creamy with many authors , just expand a little bit with the same sense of depth

[@kentjensen4504]

@@ggmagnusssx He is expanding. He has been expanding.

[@zacnewford]

Thanks for sharing. What do you think of metamodernism?

[@TJCarpenter]

Jordan Peterson wants to apply a narrow definition to the term "postmodernist" which is unambiguously political. Foucault was the political wing of the broad term "postmodernism," about which Peterson has some both legitimate and illegitimate claims. But, unfortunately Peterson hasn't read postmodern fiction, which is unfortunate because he has some insightful conclusions about the importance of story and storytelling in human history and morality. In fact reading postmodernists such as Pynchon and Gaddis would reinforce this, albeit whilst destroying religious historical texts, essentially reducing them to a class of historical literary fiction, like Gravity's Rainbow. Arguably an equally spiritual text. All of this is to say this: Postmodernism is only a wasteland to those who need a predetermined structure to make sense of the story they are reading/experiencing. Otherwise, postmodernism is simply like an open-source AI, superior in its intimacy with your thoughts and it's all-too-real-and/or surreal-to-be-fake voice, and thus makes sense as a story, without being a "story." Peterson is oblivious to this, unfortunately, and is thus blinded to the beauty of postmodernist literature, even though he somewhat identifies as a two-spirited postmodern painting collector.

[@RaySquirrel]

What is that creature which sneaks under the television stand at 5:30?

[@hdcbpxsytahdcbpx]

i can see it wandering about at 7:38 .... peculiar animal........

[@King-jn9is]

Whose the poet mentioned at 14:23, couldn't hear it clearly, and I'm interested in reading their work. Thanks in advance

[@ahope1]

RILKE

[@ahope1]

RILKE

[@ShawnMorey-sx7wm]

Verbiage leads to generalization, labeling. So, be it. However, understanding knowledge is just interpretation ingested. No more, no less.

[@kentjensen4504]

Deconstruction and progressivism are sibling phenomena. The true purpose of deconstructionism is cultivating a critique that never stops. It grinds on and on, seemingly forever, until the targeted society becomes childless and insane and ripe for infiltration and invasion, death and dissolution. This is how reasonable (at first) social agendas, like gay righs, never ever reach what one imagined was the finish line. Whenever some declared milestone is attained, there is scant celebration as a new milestone suddenly glows into being in the distance. Thus, "gay rights" eventually lead to academic perverts suggesting we "discuss" a new approach to "minor attracted persons". (Real world example, from my country, last year.) This means truth and decency are attacked and twisted into meaningless monstrosities. Our ancient words lose their meaning, are assigned new meaning; and absurd and evil new words are forced upon every person and into every conversation. This "progress" is an ever-receding horizon that pulls us through noxious swamps of madness and death. Progressivism is a cult with no goal except perpetual motion downward (not forward).

[@camildumitrescu3703]

Frederic Beigbeder said that, in his work as an editor, he would just read the first page - getting to pick one author out of hundreads. And I completely agree with this method, given that a readers time is simply sacred.

[@camildumitrescu3703]

Could you adress the Dan Schneider/Cosmoetica critiques? Those are quite worthwhile, I believe.

[@pantsonfire2216]

I appreciate that you want to show us different points of view but you are missing a huge part of Post Modernism that Gabriel Rockhill does a great job at exposing. It has been very well documented that all of the founders and French thinkers of Post Modernism have all been funded by the CIA as a way to fight against Marxism and all workers movements. Yes those men were geniuses but they are wrong in their philosophies that don’t really work towards anything because they themselves don’t believe in anything and think that language itself is meaningless therefore to even argue with them is completely pointless. The irony in the case of Jordan Peterson is that he himself is admittedly a Post Modernist and does the exact same thing he accuses others of doing. The entire existence of this movement is to criticize, nullify and recruit anyone that wants actual change in the world. Does post modernism criticize capitalism and the current social democrat regime? Yes. But it also says it’s “our best option” while saying anything else would be much worse which ends up feeding the machine that is destroying the heart and soul of humanity worldwide. Also I see that you sometimes throw critiques at anything right leaning but I don’t think you understand the real philosophical right wing or the left for that matter. I think you’re a very smart dude but when I hear you speak I see that you’re missing big blocks of information that you need in order to understand and be fair and objectively about what you discuss. I say all of this in good faith mind you. I love your channel and gain a lot from it.

[@kentjensen4504]

Did these "French" thinkers have anything in common besides being really really "French"?

[@AleksandarBloom]

You talk in straw man.

[@CrowMagnum]

Metamodernist

[@valuedCustomer2929]

The idea that Christianity had a lockdown on academia is a misunderstanding of history. The modern scientific method and university came from the Cath church. Sounds like you have your own bias to work through before having a nuanced conversation

[@pantsonfire2216]

First comment!

[@ME-ed7gc]

I like this guys message but my god he’s a terrible reader when it comes to out loud reading. Of course there’s nothing bad but at times I jokingly think to myself ‘does he really read this much?’ But of course that don’t matter just an observation.

[@WriteConscious]

You've expierenced nothing! My classes have to hear me read aloud for 10-20 minutes a day 🤣

[@TheGoodMD]

LOL. I think Ian has so much stuff going on in his head he sometimes stumbles because he’s constantly sorting through his knowledge bank. Ian is probably the most well-read person I’ve ever met. He’s legit for sure 😂

[@ME-ed7gc]

@@WriteConscious hey man that’s awesome I wish I was one of your students because waiting for you to finish your though is exciting you always have something exciting and invigorating to say and no matter if you stumble through or speak as eloquent as a poet I’m here for it. Sorry if this sound like a diss to anybody it’s not I love this channel it’s teaching me more than any an English class I took past 3rd grade.

[@ME-ed7gc]

@@TheGoodMD okay you actually framed that really well and it makes so much sense now. I was too dumb that I didn’t even think about that. Sometimes that happens to me when I’m trying to see what I want to eat for dinner.