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Postmodernism (US/Europe/world)

Movement
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Late 20th-century poetic tendency embracing fragmentation, irony, and intertextuality

Detailed Definition
Postmodernism (US/Europe/world) in poetry rejects grand narratives, embraces fragmentation, irony, pastiche, and intertextuality, and blurs boundaries between high and low culture; influenced by theorists like Lyotard and Barthes, it manifests in works by Ashbery, O’Hara, and European experimentalists who foreground indeterminacy, play, and the constructed nature of reality.
Example
Example in poetry:
Postmodernism (US/Europe/world): In "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg, chaotic syntax, cultural allusions, and rejection of linear narrative exemplify postmodernism’s embrace of fragmentation and anti-authoritarianism.
Additional Notes
Poetry challenging traditional narrative, meaning, and form. Features fragmentation, pastiche, irony. Includes Language poetry, New York School. Compare with modernism. Note playful skepticism.
Also Known As
Late twentieth-century poetry Fragmented verse Anti-narrative poetry Experimental postmodern
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