The Postmodern Generation- An Introduction

Blast from the past—beyond the Postmodern Identity

In the old world of religion and kings and queens, identity was solely based on one’s allegiance to a church, motherland, and ancestor; It was as simple as English, Scottish, Christian, and Catholic. When one reign falls and another rises, Identity grew fearful and at times was concealed.

Now, fast forward hundreds of years later into the 20^th and 21^st century and just as multiple seeds are plant in one soil, multiple ethnicities emerged on one land. The barriers of black and white were shattered and gray emerged. Identification was no longer just a card that carries “the holder’s family name, given name, date and place of birth and… a whole array of details, (Maalouf, 10)” it had become a recipe that gave individuals richness and made a human being or even an object irreplaceable. A carpet was no longer just a piece of furniture; it’s a piece of décor within a home , a souvenir from a corner of the world, and a place of prayer within a temple —it’s identity was made up with the views of multiple ethnicities and uses.

The idea of identity as rich, layered and colorful is also seen in the postmodern art world. Cubist painters wanted to emphasize the two-dimensionality of a painting. Artists during this time such as Picasso and Braque emphasizes the use of people and objects rather than landscape in their artwork.

This blog analyzes the main ideas of the postmodern world and how "relativity" was depicted in the works of famous painters of writers such as Violin and Grapes by Picasso, In the Name of Identity by Maalouf and the Different Points of Views campaign by HSBC.

Violin and Grapes by Pablo Picasso

In an attempt to break free from the boundaries of realism and use nature as the main subject in art, Picasso, along with other famous painters, founded a movement in art known as Cubism. “Picasso desired to construct and image rather than represent it”(Haddad). Just as Maalouf believed that a person’s true identity is composed of many qualities, characteristics and elements that all contribute to the whole person, cubist painters understood that in order to truly capture the essence of an object, one must acknowledge all of its possible points of views.

In observing the painting, Violin and Grapes, one notices the variation of colors, textures and the summation of all the layers each with a distinct characteristic—the bow, the scroll, the strings, and F-Hole—which all contribute to the overall idea of a violin. Maalouf described that one cannot be simply half Lebanese and half French because he wouldn’t “exist more authentically if [he] cut off a part of [him]self “(Maalouf, 1). When applying Maalouf’s logic to Picasso’s painting, one understands that when only focusing on the belly of the violin, it is indiscernible what the central theme or what object is being portrayed.

In this postmodernist society, everything is in the eyes of the beholder; therefore, not only must one acknowledge all of the characteristics of a person and all of the facets of an object in order to “identify” it, one must also understand the object on a universal scale.

"Pablo Picasso - The Birth of Cubism." Suite101.com. Web. 10 May 2012. http://theodore-haddad.suite101.com/pablo-picasso--cubism-a277060.

 

Maalouf, Amin. "My Identity, My Allegiance." In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong. New York: Arcade, 2001. Print.

In the Name of Identity by Amin Maalouf

In Amin Maalouf’s In the Name of Identity, the author portrays the idea that identity is a conglomeration of various ingredients; It should not be divided into halves or thirds or “compartmentalized” simply because of race and allegiances. Maalouf reflects on the idea that in this postmodern world, the idea of “identity” has become a dangerous one: “[The question of identity] presupposes that ‘deep down inside’ everyone there is just one affiliation that really matters, a kind of ‘fundamental truth’ about each individual. (Maalouf, 2)” The author criticizes the idea that when one gives into just one side of his overall identity, it is almost as if the rest of one’s life—journeys, beliefs, tastes, sensibilities, and affinities, and “his life itself”—counted for nothing (Maalouf 2). However, when looking deeper into defining ones identity, factors such as conflicts, hierarchy, and that of his enemy all "change with time, and in so doing brings about fundamental changes in behavior" (Maalouf, 13).

Similar to Picasso’s technique in Violin and Grapes, Maalouf recognizes that his identity is not made up an “essential allegiance”. Identity is like a game of jigsaw puzzles. Maalouf writes,”I scour my memory to find as many ingredients of my identity as I can. I then assemble and arrange them. I don’t deny any of them” (Maalouf, 16). In Violin and Grapes, the different layers and body parts of the violin is scattered about the canvas like an unsolved puzzle.

Maalouf, Amin. "My Identity, My Allegiance." In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong. New York: Arcade, 2001. Print.