Hello all,
it sounds cliche, and I'm not one to follow conventions happily, but I think it must be explained.... I'm new to this, and the book actually. I'm from Australia and in my last year of High School.
As such, I'm hoping somone can help with some opinions....

We're studying the elective of "Postmodernism", and all those who have encountered the word know how difficult it can be to understand and define. I want to use "The Eyre Affair" as a related text for my HSC exam on the topic but have so far only been able to say a very limited amount about it.

If anyone can help me identify more postmodern techniques, that would be much appreciated. If you'd rather I first list what I know, I'd be glad to do so, I'm just hoping somone can expand on those things.

Please help me if possible....

But thanks anyway, even if you just read this hopeless rant and decided to ignore it.

right postmodernism

postmodernism can be characterised by an eclectic approach, and a liking for parody and pastiche.

fragmentation of the text is a relief from the constricts of regular texts.

postmodernism rejects the distinction between 'high' and 'popular' art/texts, and believes in excess, gaudiness and to a certain extent relishes 'bad taste'.

postmodernism is for everyone and refuses to be elite, it is possible within postmodernism to apreciate a Shakespeare sonnet and also to enjoy a Klingon opera.

Postmodernism does not have to follow rigid linear time constraints, and can blur the distinction between what is real and what is simulated.

eg. we know in reality that dodo's don't exist and that it is not possible to travel in time, but in postmodernism we ask how do we know this? its not enough just to say because you can't time travel or dodo's are extinct. how do you know? itsbecause somebody has told you that its not possible and your reality is based on your belief that this is the truth. to put it simply its a suspension of disbelief that is constructed by society.

postmodern books tend to have a notion of 'the disappearance of the real' and also the ability to mix genres, as seen in TEA. is it crime thriller, is it sci fi, is it fantasy, magic realism, detective novel, historical fiction? hmmm all of the above i think.

postmodern texts have lots of 'intertextual elements' such as parody, pastiche and allusion all of which there is a ajor degree of reference between one text and another, rather than real life.

postmodernists tend to revisit the past but with lots of irony.

postmodern texts blend high and low culture and so act as a kind og hybrid.

postmmodern texts focus on and debate their own ends and processes.

i think most of these areas can be applied in some way to TEA. and it is a classic piece of postmodern writing. i am sorry if this seems a bit confusing but unfortunatley so is postmodernism.

i did my dissertation on postmodernism and wished that TEA had been availlable then as it is such a brilliant book both to read; study and to pull apart in a literary way.

good luck

try getting hold of a copy of either Peter Brooker (ed) Modernism/Postmodernism (Longman, 1992). or Patricia Waugh (ed) Postmodernism: a reader (Arnold: 1992).
both of these books are good introductions to postmodernism although can be a bit heavy going in places if you aren't used to ploughing through academic stuff.

That's some pretty good info; now I feel like I know lots about postmodernism from reading your post!

Nanashi, I would also recommend looking around this forum a lot more, because there have been other conversations about using TEA for school projects and also about postmodernism. I can't offhand tell you what they have said, but they're there. And welcome to the fforum!

Thanks guys, the help's much appeciated. I flicked through past posts in the hope of finding something but at the time I was unluckily pressed for time. Obviously I missed quite a bit....

Anyway, it wasn't so much understanding pomo that had me in a fix. I couldn't find enough ways to accuratly relate TEA to it. Techniques and features of it weren't jumping out at me like they did for text such as Sally Potter's "Orlando", or John Fowles' "The French Lieutenant's Woman."

Now though, looking back on it I can't believe I'd thought that. I think it must have been pre-exam stress... I feel really stupid now because you're both right and it is an exceptional text to use in studying Pomo.

Thanks for all your help though!