Continental Postmodernism

1. Continental Postmodernism James A. Van Slyke

2. “There is Nothing Outside the Text” • Memento • Leonard has lost his ability to make new memories • Uses tattoos on his body to help him remember important facts • Jacques Derrida • Text is the central component of putting our worlds together • It is not possible to step outside one’s own texts and objectively interpret the text of another

3. “There is Nothing Outside the Text” • Reacting to a problem of modern dualism • Problem of perception • Objects are external (extension) to the inner workings of the mind • Language becomes an imperfect instrument of interpretation of external objects

4. Literary Criticism • It is often assumed that the intention of the author is somehow “behind” the text • Good reading is getting past interpretation to the ‘real’ intention of the author • Derrida’s Critique • All reading is interpretive, never get to the ‘true meaning’ or ‘essence’ somehow beyond the text • “Interpretation is an inescapable part of being human and experiencing the world” • We bring our own sets of expectations and assumptions to the interpretation of a text

5. Derrida • Not that everything is a text like a book… • But everything is interpreted according to the mediation of language • Language is not a portal or veil that we travel through to get to the ‘real’ • “there is no reality that is not already interpreted through mediating lens of language” • The experienced world is a type of text that needs to be interpreted

6. Concerns • Does interpretation = relativism? • Objective truth is not a matter of interpretation • Background assumptions • Objective truth is not a matter of interpretation • Modern epistemology • ““universally acceptable truth based on indubitable foundations” • Modern Philosophy of Mind • ‘Thinking stuff’ uses reason objectively

7. Contributions • Could Derrida be describing a part of how the world works • The identity of Christ is always contested • There are several interpretations of who Christ is and what is death meant on the cross • Each a response or experience of Christ • Still possible to interpret well or poorly • To interpret well requires a correct frame of reference to understand the event • The Bible becomes one of the primary texts through which we interpret the world

8. Lyotard and Postmodernism • Suspicious of rationality as the primary conveyor of truth • Suspicious of science and its commitment to rationality • Suspicious of Meta-narratives or “Big Stories” that attempt to provide and universal explanation of everything

9. “Incredulity to Metanarratives” • Metanarrative • Reaction to Modernity • Metanarratives tell a big story and appeal to universal reason or science for justification • Central tension between science and narrative • Lyotard was critiquing the scientific metanarrative • The ways in which it discredited religious and mythical narratives • Its assumption that is was somehow above or beyond narrative

10. “Incredulity to Metanarratives” • Science appeals to autonomous reason • Reason is greater than narrative • Reason is able to stand outside the lesser narratives and provide the correct account of knowledge • Narrative attempts to make claims through telling its story • Legitimized by the culture in which it is embodied

11. Narrative and Science • Narrative or myth has always been a part of reason, the two are never separate • “the state spends large amounts of money to enable science to pass itself off as epic” – Lyotard • “Every scientist is a believer”

12. Contributions • Lyotard is trying to reaffirm the importance of myth and religion • Reason requires a narrative to justify its claims • Isn’t telling stories what the Christian tradition does best?

13. Michel Foucault • Attempts to show the similarities between prisons and psychological institutions and education, hospitals, businesses, etc. • Discipline and Punish • The Birth of the Clinic • Power is at the root of all institutions • Justice and Truth are merely instruments in the exercise of power

14. “Power is Knowledge” • Power and Knowledge have an intrinsic relationship with one another • Knowledge is never neutrally determined • Knowledge is never simply “rational” or “for the good of all” • Knowledge is linked with networks of power – economic, social, political, etc. • Hermeneutic of Suspicion

15. “Power is Knowledge” • Foucault continues in the line of Nietzsche by using the method of geneaology • Look back through history and uncover the power relations within different forms of knowledge • Re-interpretation of texts and events by unmasking the power relations that exist • The subtle biases and prejudices of power are actually behind the establishment of truth • Nietzsche – Genealogy of Morals • Good and evil are names given to behaviors to serve the interests of the powerful over the weak

16. Discipline and Punish • Foucault describes changes in the penal system, but argues that they are all forms of domination • Torture • Torture is used to illicit a confession • The confession justified the punishment (making it true) allowing the sentence to be passed • The exercise of the sentence solidified the power of the sovereign • Punishment • Discipline

17. Discipline and Punish • Punishment • Not a move to more humane practices • Shift to avoid more uprising • Leads to a deeper surveillance on behavior • Control becomes more integrated into the structure of society • Discipline • The goal of society is the formations of persons according to the mechanisms of power • Society forms individuals who are “docile” and “useful for the state, capitalism, etc.

18. Contributions • Recognizing the power relations in any organization or institution • Allows us to be self-conscious of the power relations and our participation in those relations • Knowledge is not independent of social, political, and other issues • Smith asks “Is all power bad?” • Contemporary evangelicalism is too autonomous • Submission to the authority of the church

19. Contributions • Recognizing the ways in which society disciplines us into certain types of persons • Captialism is dependent upon consumers • Society creates consumers by the way in which it disciplines them • Marketing to make you believe that you need certain types of things • Marketing that invests particular types of meaning into objects • Counter-disciplines are needed