What is the difference between Modernism and Postmodernism?

 Both modernism and postmodernism are disillusioned with 19th-century realism.

Realism attempts to sustain the illusion that the narrated world is a plausible version of the one we live in. You can think of realist narration as a transparent window through which the reader looks at the narrated world (in contrast, modern and postmodern windows either distort the narrated world or draw attention to the frames). Realism works as a tacit agreement between writer and reader; the former does everything to sustain the illusion of reality and the latter suspends disbelief.

Underpinning realism is the conviction that the world can be described in an objective manner. Modernism and postmodernism lose this faith in objectivity, and they focus instead on subjective modes of narration.

Modern writers disagree with realist ones the real world can be merely translated, transmitted, or reflected – every act of writing is essentially creating a new world. Modernism rejects realist conventions, such as detailed descriptions or the third-person impartial narrator.

Both modernism and postmodernism recognize that the fictional world is mediated through frames (particular narrative choices which are always subjective). Whereas realism tries to conceal these frames by rendering the language as “transparent” and unobtrusive as possible, modern and postmodern writers draw attention to language and narration.

Postmodern writers argue that every reading of a work of fiction creates a different version of the text in the minds of readers, as every interpretation is unique. This multiplicity of texts goes against the impartiality and singularity of vision that realist writers believed in.

According to realism, the fictional world exists in its entirety and is analogous to the real world. Postmodern writers object to these views for the following reasons:

1. The world is partly indeterminate
2. Objects may have emotional coloration and a privileged space
3. Some objects might be ambiguous if the sentences describing them are ambiguous

As a fictional world cannot exist outside of language, only things that are described by the narrator exist in a fictional world. Yet, it is simply impossible to depict the infinite number of objects that should exist in a world that is analogous to ours. The fictional world doesn’t exist in its entirety like the real one.

Postmodern writers also point out that narration isn’t such an innocent act as realism implies. Every act of telling involves selection, organization, and interpretation on the part of the narrator. This partiality of narration is suppressed by realism, which for postmodern writers is dishonest and potentially dangerous.

The referential function of fiction is also exposed as another promise that realism can’t keep. From a referential point of view, what happens in fiction is literally nothing.

Referential

Relating to the external world rather than to language.

Modernism gradually rejects the referential function. For instance, Finnegan’s Wake doesn’t refer to anything other than language. But this creates a problem, as coherence is lost. Modernism is a cul-de-sac – there is nowhere to go from this radical refusal of meaning. Literature was becoming a jumble of incoherent sentences that no one could understand.

Postmodernism offers a solution. It preserves the realist referential function ironically by being both self-reflexive and referential. Postmodernism, at its heart, is characterized by paradox