An Overview of Postmodernism Essay - 2180 Words

The political climate at the beginning of the 1940’s and the changes taking place all around the world drastically influenced the face of contemporary society. The invasion of Poland by Germany on 1st of September 1939 was the first stone thrown in the face of freedom of expression and liberty out of the many that followed for the next decades. The dawn of the Second World War was one of the premises that forced many European artists, pioneers par excellence in their field, through their French or German inherited status, to immigrate across the ocean. Due to the exile, the art centre also moved overseas, from Paris to New York, offering a new opportunity for American art to be the initiator in what was generally accepted as the new†¦show more content†¦This description is trying to clearly position postmodernism in a specific time frame and outline its main characteristics. However, when consulting the Macmillan Dictionary (2010) the description offered is significa ntly less conclusive: â€Å"ideas, attitudes, or styles of art, literature, or thinking that have developed after modernism, often as a reaction against † The main accent is set on the chronological aspect of postmodernism and its logical and historical flow offering the reader not enough information to identify a clear period or any particular feature. Only by comparing the two definitions, a very small part of the available explanations on the subject, and at the same time reading them together one can identify one of the main components of the movement: diversity in all its aspects. The difference in these definitions is not just a simple coincidence and should be taken as a figure of speech for the description of the entire period. During this time critics and writers, artists and architects etc. have tried to find a proper explanation for the changes they were being part of, concretised in what became known as Postmodernism. During the 1960s ‘attacks’ started appearing against the elitism shown by modernism. One of the first voices pointing at modernism’s faults was the poet Karl Shapiro , who in 1959 in an article for The Times BookShow MoreRelatedThe Apologetics Application Paper Instructions1329 Words   |  6 Pagesspace below, provide the information indicated. 1. Worldview Selection Of the 3 choices listed in the Apologetics Application Paper Instructions, which worldview will you write about in this paper? 1. Worldview selected: Postmodernism 2. Summary of Significant Beliefs of the Worldview In Chapter 4 of Groothuis’s Christian Apologetics, he describes the Christian worldview using several major categories of belief. For this section of your paper, you will describe the worldviewRead MorePersonal Worldview Inventory : Worldview1164 Words   |  5 PagesPersonal Worldview Inventory Worldview is regarded as the crucial basis of reality and is dominant among culture. It consists of classes, norms as well as values that provide an overview by which is observed as an overview that people use to examine the universe. As a result of unique wide perspective associated with worldview that everybody has, there are evidences of similarities within communities, family setups and among the culture. (Shelly, 2006). Worldview can also be influenced by the spiritualRead MoreThe Third Policeman: A Lesson in Absurdity Essay1571 Words   |  7 Pagesunderstand. O’Brien asks the reader to suspend disbelief and follow along for the ride. O’Brien pushes the boundaries of postmodernism novel and the limits of the conscious mind while dabbling with impossibilities and possibilities of the existentialist mind. 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Postmodernism expanded around all different art forms and thus had many characteristics furthering symbolizing theRead More The Transition to Postmodernism Essay3040 Words   |  13 PagesThe Transition to Postmodernism Works Cited Not Included Postmodernism is a difficult term to define, as it is evident in many different disciplines, such as art, literature, architecture, technology, and, the precise emerging moment of this movement is also hard to identify. In order to truly understand `Postmodernism, one must first identify with `Modernism and its subsequent decline which led to the appearance of the Post-modern ear. It is often suggested that Postmodernity is simply aRead MoreArt Essay 21433 Words   |  6 Pagesaims to puzzle his audience with his geometric artworks such as ‘Leviathan’. Approaches to this question varied, with perspectives ranging from critical and historical overviews of the 20th century and more contemporary accounts of practice. 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China vs. Rome Compare and Contrast Free Essays

China and Rome China and Rome were astonishing civilizations that managed to advance technology and civilations. Both civilizations were rapidly growing and making changes to the world. The two cultures were pretty similar, yet very different. We will write a custom essay sample on China vs. Rome Compare and Contrast or any similar topic only for you Order Now Their religions were something to be modest about. When it came to religion it helped the decline of both societies, by religion changing. When it came to technology though, its change is what caused the societies to flourish. As for education the both leaders of China and Rome worked on making it easier, evident from the letters, for common people to gain knowledge. Changing things in their kingdom clearly took time. With politics being something of a fight in many respects; came as part living in an ancient society. Peaceful changes in power was a rare occasion in Rome but, highly common in China. Both societies treated each other differently, no matter if it was regarding slaves, or women. The underclass was not treated well not out of hate but out of a well beaten attitude that whoever they were, somehow they were always better. Both societies were similar yet highly different it’s surprising how it came about. When two societies emerge like the Romans and Chinese, we would expect conflict, yet none came about, here is a look into both societies as truly empires. The Han China and The Roman Empire were well-organized bureaucracies. In Han China their government was based on Confucian ideas a main one of which was; that a ruler should learn self-discipline, should govern his subjects by his own example, and should treat them with love and concern. An example of this is in document four when it calls a governor â€Å"he was a generous man and his policies were peaceful. † This shows how clearly the people loved their emperor. While in all but the last few years of the roman rule the religion was very scattered. Due to the vastness of the Roman Empire uniting them under one religion was impossible. But one of the things that did spread was the idea that the Emperor was a god. No one ever came out and bluntly said it but a change in ideals that came with Christianity led to the famous saying of Emperor Constantine which was â€Å"I am simply the first among equals. † This truly represented a new era for Rome that helped lead to its decline. The politics of Han China were all about the good of the people. Showing this is in document one where it is said â€Å"and supply enough workers to those carry out the repair work in each district. † Clearly this document is showing a want of the work to be done, for the good of the people. While in Rome it seems the Emperor had less respect for his people when even one of his advisors writes â€Å"I do not believe that tools for the crafts were invented by wise men. †(Document 7) This total lack of respect for the common people is rather disgusting. Even though the two had different political philosophies, both managed control over their vast empires. In technology there is so much to be said for these two empires they managed to change the world with their developments. Rome had many technologies that gave new life to their capital. The first of which is aqueducts, â€Å"The abundance of water is sufficient not only for public and private uses and application but truly even for pleasure. † (Document 8) The point of this is that they had enough water coming into the city to do whatever they wanted to do. That’s how Rome ended up with so many fountains, bath houses and other water related activities. Another accomplishment of Rome is roads level, and strait. It took a long process of building to achieve what they did; making something rival to The Great Wall of China. Traditionally known to the Chinese as the â€Å"Long Wall of Ten Thousand Li†, the stretch of formidable defensive structures built to ward off invasion of the Celestial Empire by barbarians from the North. If all the fortified walls built in the different dynasties around northern China are included, the total length would exceed 31,000 miles. This is so long and large that the Great Wall of China can even be seen from space. When it came to water like the Romans Chinese were controlling it like putty in their hands. The main thing was the grand canal which brought water from one city to another and acted as a road way. The Grand Canal is the world’s longest man-made waterway, being 1,800 kilometers long. The canal connects the present cities of Beijing in the north and Hangzhou in the south, which served as dynastic capitals in the past, and contains 24 locks and 60 bridges. Since most of China’s major rivers flow from west to east, the fact that the Grand Canal runs north and south provides it as an important connector between the Yangtze River valley and the Yellow River valley. A good example of their care for water is in Document 1 â€Å"I request that you establish water conservation offices in each district and staff them with people who are experienced in the ways of water. † When it says this you can tell how much they care about the water. Both societies clearly had a good grip on the control of water, for their benefit and their pleasure. The last topic that shows the intellect of the people and the emperor, it seems that these peoples were highly intelligent. When you are looking at Document 5 it says â€Å"all craftsman spend their time in vulgar occupations; no workshop can have anything enlightening about it. I take this as the upper class looking down on what their lower class does to support their lifestyle. Slavery was commonly practiced throughout all ancient history, but no other people in history owned so many slaves and depended on them so much as the Romans. Many Romans had slaves do their dirty and hard work for them. These slave s were bought and sold in the slave markets. Some slaves were soldiers who had been captured in wars, while others were the children of slave parents. If they tried to run away, they were whipped, burned with iron, and sometimes even killed. Slavery was accepted as part of life in ancient Rome by the slaves themselves and by the society. Women were treated differently, as time went forward. When a young woman married in the early years of the Roman Republic she left her childhood home and the authority of her father and entered not only the home of her husband but his power and control as well. In law her status was not very different from that of her husband’s daughter. As Rome’s empire grew and more and more money poured in things began to change. Any amendments to the law probably seemed quite insignificant at the time they were made, but the reality of day to day life gradually began to transform the way society viewed women and the way they viewed themselves. By the end of the First Century women had achieved a level of freedom they would not see again in Western Society until the last half of the Twentieth Century. While in China slaves were less prominent in history, they were simply people with debts to pay off, and people who created with, in some cases their lives and blood and sweat the greatness that was ancient China. Women in ancient China were considered inferior to men. This meant that their whole lives were spent being subservient to the men in their families. Generations of one family often lived in the same house together and older people were greatly respected. It seems that even though there are changes to society over time both treated others in their society badly. Even with the greatest of technology some societies just have issues with the idea of equality. Even though the quality of life was a concern as shown in document 3 â€Å"later, water power was also applied, and the benefit was increased a hundredfold. † This truly shows an attempt on improving quality of life. How to cite China vs. Rome Compare and Contrast, Papers