Postmodernism, What a Trip!: The Reflective Journey of a Graduate Student in the Postmodern Age

I want to preface this entry by saying that when I speak of postmodernism I really have no idea what I am talking about (the common intellectual plague of anyone who tries to discuss postmodernism). I only hope to work from my limited understanding to tease out some of my own intellectual, emotional, social, and spiritual joys and qualms of postmodernism as I am exposed to it in my field of study as well as in my everyday life. After a semester of diving deeper and deeper into cultural and literary theory (and by deeper and deeper I mean finally scratching the surface), I have concluded one thing: Postmodernism and new cultural history arethe most promising things ever because you can produce any kind of work no matter how "out there" and still be engaged in the scholarly discourse.

This past weekend (April 7-8), the history department here at Southern Illinois University Carbondale (SIUC) hosted a conference for graduate students. Of all the papers I heard presented, I would say that postmodern scholarship is perhaps in its heyday. When asked by a colleague in the department--the esteemed Art "Shameless/Capote" Fitz-Gerald--what I thought of the conference, I responded that I have a new found hope in postmodern scholarship because the work I am currently doing will not be quite as crazy as I originally thought it was. Recently I consulted my advisor. We discussed this very idea. She said that while there cannot be any absolute, the possibilities are endless in how to interpret events, physical objects, people, literature, etc. in order to assess something about the culture or to psychoanalyze the people of a time and place.

I do not think I can go so far as to say I reject absolutes, for I think that we Christians do have some certain absolutes upon which we must stand (that "Solid Rock" upon our hope is built, to take from that sweet, old hymn). Of course, to make postmodernism an absolute would be hypocritical, unless it is the absolute of the individual in which case it is alright. However, neither did my advisor think that postmodernism is the "true" way to go. As she told me, it is an interesting intellectual challenge that we can perform (to steal postmod jargon) in order to join in on the academic discourse (also jargon).

These comments being said, I embrace postmodernism and postmodern scholarship (what I know of it or what I think I know of it) as a means of (1) finishing grad school, (2) getting into the career, and (3) eventually teasing out my understandings of culture theory and apply those to my own profession/practice of faith and any opportunities for ministry/discipleship that I hope and pray to come out of my career, family, church, and civic and social involvement.

Perform criticism, let us engage in discourse and deconstruct my understandings and identity. My mind is a text open to interpretation.