Postmodernism

I mostly agree with Jameson's claims concerning today's media. Postmodernism, for him, is more than just a style of art or cultural tendencies. It is rather the environment in which Western culture exists. Jameson suggests that the greatest modernist artists strove to create something entirely unique--their own style, and while they do contain references to other works and styles, they are using such sources effectively within their own vision. It would seem, then, that Jameson believes the major difference between modernist and post-modernist art to be the lack of creativity in the latter. To me, by some of Jameson's other descriptions of post-modernist tendencies, Moby Dick would even seem to exhibit certain post-modernist tendencies. Melville's incorporation of stage directions and other dramaturgical devices, and his insertion into the novel a massive amount of pages dedicated entirely to scientific details about whales and whaling, transforming itself, at times, into a textbook, come to mind as being subtly "post-modernist," even though it was written 80 years or so before the apex of "high modernism." ANother artist who Jameson cites as a great example of modernist art, also could be described as "schizophrenic" in his artistic approache, a characteristic which Jameson ascribes to post-modernism. Joyce, in certain chapters of Ulysses, and to a much greater extent in Finnegan's Wake, borrows from many literary traditions and languages--in the latter ostensibly creating a language of his own comprised of multi-lingual portmanteaus. And in Ulysses, Stephen Daedelus's ranting about his theories on Shakespeare seems similar in a way to monologues often employed by Tarantino, in which a character will rant about some theory or interpretation of some fictional, historical, or artistic figure. Tarantino's "Like a Virgin" speech in Reservoir Dogs, and Bill's Superman speech in Kill Bill Vol. 2, come to mind. Is the difference, to Jameson, merely that Shakespeare is worthy of being referenced, while Madonna and Superman are not. Or is it just a matter of quality? If that's the case, I would take Joyce over Tarantino any day. But again, it is not so much a matter of artistic intent or content, but rather the environment. To deny post-modernism is to deny media-saturated environment in which we exist and have been raised. People are not "lone, genius artists" anymore, but rather members of a constantly shifting media landscape in which their work will likely own attract attention or gain significance in relation to other works in its medium and even other forms of media. Creative geniuses can still flourish, but to do so need to adapt to their surroundings. Some examples of (maybe) post-modernism I love:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgqH3PK6-3Q

Imagine that there's a link here to Tim and Eric's "Vodka Movie," and look it up on youtube if you want. The link isn't working for some reason. It's a vodka commercial.