A Primer on Postmodernism was published in 1996 – only 2 years after the final episode of The Next Generation – but a full 14 years before we read it for our D.Min. class. The shift in worldview that Grenz is describing can be seen today with even more hindsight than Grenz had at the time, though not necessarily with more light. The “emerging epoch”2 that Grenz is describing has emerged even more fully, yet its implications are still unknown. It is commonly recognized today that we are in the midst of a major societal shift, but those of us who remember the modern worldview still don’t know what to do about it. There is much discussion about the need to let go of modernity and embrace postmodernity, but, for good reason, there is also much resistance. One reason for this resistance is that there is much about modernity that doesn’t deserve to be lost. Indeed, there is a certain responsibility to future generations to help the present generations navigate the paradigm shift so that the world we are about to create doesn’t become a world full of regret. The best example I can think of to illustrate this point is a quote from Proust and the Squid in which the author, MaryAnne Wolf, chronicles not only how the invention of writing has shaped the human brain for the past 6,000 years as successive systems of writing evolved, developed and died out over time, but also how the loss of an oral and written culture will adversely affect the development of our species as digital information replaces printed words on a page. Wolf says,
Understanding the origins of a new [literary] process helps us see, as the neuroscientist Terry Deacon put it, “how it works.’ Understanding how it works, in turn, helps us know what we possess and what we need to preserve. 3
I would argue that the same caution ought to apply to the shift from modernity to postmodernity. If we can understand “how it works” – why postmoderns are rejecting modernity and what that means for us – then we can identify the aspects of modernity that deserve to be preserved, and we can choose to bring them along with us. In other words, we can continue to read books that are printed on paper even as we gather most of our information by digital means.
About Me
- Suzy
- I am a United Methodist minister. I was diagnosed with a recurrence of ovarian cancer in March 2013. I'm writing about my thoughts of navigating all of life in the midst of this recurrence.
Response from Emery Ailes
ReplyDeleteYes, Karyn, I agree with you. There is no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater so-to-speak. There are elements of the modern age that we have yet to tap into to; that I think can prove to be very resourceful if for nothing else, passing on to the next generation good values that are of the modern age. I think with the induction of post-modernity we kinda lose the values set forth in modernity that may help us define ourselves as God sees us in a post-modern world. For example, when looking up the text for this assignment, I noticed Barnes and Noble has this text in both the paperback book representing modernity, and a digital e-book representing post-modernity. I purchased the paperback book because I believe there is a value to flipping the pages that I can’t get by scrolling. That is not to say downloading an e-copy to my iphone is not convenient. However, there is something about the iphone, itouch, imovie digital information age that takes away the personal touch of study and engagement. I am a part-time adjunct professor at Hudson County Community College who tells his students in my reading and writing class all the time that its okay to download a copy of a summary from the internet, but nothing beats going to the library searching the stacks of texts for a reading and writing assignment.
Response from Suzanne Cox Reedstrom
ReplyDeleteI would be the outsider in this discussion. Karyn notes that “if we can understand ‘how it works’ – why postmoderns are rejecting modernity and what that means for us – then we can identify the aspects of modernity that deserve to be preserved.” The comments make me wonder who the “we” is and why it is imperative for the “we” to identify what aspects of modernity need to be preserved. Are the postmoderns of the world not capable of deciding what aspects of modernity should be preserved? Additionally, understanding “how it works” is a statement of modernity. The statement is another example of the modernity mindset that wishes to rely on the rational human intellect to solve perceived problems; such as moving from modernity to post-modernity.
I am also fascinated by the comments of both of my colleagues concerning books – both ebooks and “real” books. Frankly, I love my Kindle. It is great for book club books and quick reads that will be read once and then generally thrown away. Because I share it with my husband, I have not purchased required texts for class on it, but I can see the benefits. The dictionary and highlighting text are all parts that would be helpful in reading books for class. Now, I love “real” books as well. There is nothing more that I love than walking down the aisles of Barnes and Nobles or losing myself in the stacks of a library. I don’t see post-modernity as saying, “you must choose, so which will it be? Paper books or ebooks?” Post-modernity says, the boundaries are blurred, choose that which works for you at the moment.