My general feeling at the end of my English degree was that deconstruction, while useful, simply dismantled narratives and left us postmodernists in an endless parody loop. I was awaiting the reconstruction of a new form of story that invited the construction of meaning. Maybe the postmodern text is more similar to art (which is finished only by the engagement of the viewer) rather than story (which seems to be a package delivered from author to reader ... though, of course, reader response theorists would strongly disagree).
In response to my "I'm not teaching" misery yesterday, I binged on PBS Idea Channel episodes and this one caught my attention. I disliked Frozen so strongly that I felt compelled to write a whole post on it, but Mike (drawing on others) brings up a really interesting point about Frozen being realized through the critical discussion it generated, and through the idea that, while it may not be successful at creating a genre, it did make a noble attempt to deconstruct previous genres. Still, even if (and this is a big if) Frozen was progressive in its supposed deconstruction through changes in plot, character, and conflict, it's still retrogressive in its portrayal of animated female characters, among other issues identified half way down this post. My general feeling at the end of my English degree was that deconstruction, while useful, simply dismantled narratives and left us postmodernists in an endless parody loop. I was awaiting the reconstruction of a new form of story that invited the construction of meaning. Maybe the postmodern text is more similar to art (which is finished only by the engagement of the viewer) rather than story (which seems to be a package delivered from author to reader ... though, of course, reader response theorists would strongly disagree).
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