Source #2 - Postmodernist Lyrical Poetry
- Big Nerd
- Apr 3, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 29
This portion is due Wednesday, 7 May. Be sure to include live links.
Due Wednesday, 7 May 2025
Remember
As you Read/View each iconic work of Postmodernism lyrical poetry, consider these points:
1. Intertextuality/Pastiche - Look at how the work draws from established literary traditions and tropes, "samples" them - mocks them in both a literal and figurative sense.
2. Metafiction/Poioumena - Find the different ways the artist/author turns the camera back onto hirself, becoming part of the narrative zhe tells. At what point does zhe blur the lines between artist and audience, between creator and consumer?
3. Fabulism/Magical Realism - Recognize where the artist/author creates an ecosystem that is uncomfortably uncanny, magical, yet utterly photo-realistic.
4. Minimalism v. Maximalism - Find examples of the stripped down aesthetic of Postmodernist art and literature, then compare it to the sometimes baroque overindulgence of late-stage capitalism.
5. Other Components of Postmodernism from our KF - It's your choice!
Naomi Shihab Nye, "Making a Fist" (10 pts possible)
Radiohead "There There" (9 pts possible)
Cody Jinks, "Loud and Heavy" (7 pts possible)
Thanks for the suggestion, Sheepdog!
A Perfect Circle, "Orestes" (9 pts possible)
Buffalo Springfield, "For What It's Worth" (6 pts possible)
David Bowie - "Space Oddity" (7 pts possible)
Nnamdi - "Semantics" (10 pts possible)
CN: explicit language, reference to drug use
e.e. cummings - "[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]" (8 pts possible)
AJ Vickers - "Texas Heat" (8 pts possible)
To Post:
1. Use your digital alias to post in the comments below.
2. Identify which video/lyrical poem you intend write about. Comment on one or more of the Postmodernist elements above. Identify yourself by your alias, identify the text or detail you intend to discuss, then offer your comment.
3. Add your reaction to the work, including applications of the messages to your own experience (do not be too specific if it is a personal anecdote - again, privacy) other works that this reminds you of (use hyperlinks here), and how they compare/contrast.
4. Include in your reactions:
embedded videos
headings & subheadings
GIFs/images
You'll get to use your responses to these works and other Nerdy comments in the forum for your Final Exam.
Check out this model comment from Ima Nerd about a Postmodernist poem.
(This poem is not one of your selections. It's for modeling purposes only.)
IMA NERD
COMMENT #2 - POSTMODERNIST POETRY
**MODEL RESPONSE**
Randall Jarrell, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner"
Summary
When I first read the poem, "The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner," by Randall Jarrell, I had a lot of questions. I asked, "What's a ball turret?" "What's flak, exactly?" "Fur?" and proceeded to look up background information. Here's some of what I found.
This is a ball turret, with a gunner inside:
(Photo: SilverWings)
Maximalism
It's like a barnacle or a pregnant belly underneath a fighter plane. They were used a bunch in WWII, and these gunners had really high mortality rates.
One of the reasons for the high mortality rate was because the ball turrets were tempting targets for the enemy - easy pickin's, the gunner hanging right there separated only by a little plexi-glass. Wikipedia describes the ball turret gunner as "forced to assume a fetal position within the turret with his back and head against the rear wall, his hips at the bottom...legs held in mid-air by footrests" (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_turret).
OK, that sounds like a cross between a fetus and a mother giving birth on a hospital bed.
Another reason being a gunner was so deadly is because when planes had to ditch without landing gear (often) the gunner attached to the belly had nowhere to go. The gunner was ground to death as the plane slid to a stop. (Wikipedia). Gruesome.
Intertextuality
So, when I reread Jarrell's poem where the gunner describes himself as "in his mother's sleep" like in a womb, awakening to "black flak and the nightmare fighters" only to be "washed...out of the turret with a hose," it sounds like the poem is describing an abortion.
Is that what Jarrell is getting at here? An old-fashioned way of saying this is that these soldiers, practically babies at 18 years old, were "cannon fodder." Materiel to be used, aborted, and discarded by the state. Is it commentary on countries who sacrifice the poor, oppressed, and vulnerable on the altar of war? It reminded me of two *more* recent works on this topic; yes, the bands were back in the day. The first one is System of a Down's song, "B.Y.O.B." [Content Note: Use of Expletives]
The second is A Perfect Circle's song, "Pet" or "Counting Bodies Like Sheep." [Content Note: Use of Expletives; Political Imagery]
You’re telling me, it’s not real?
I got a couple of things out of reading these lyrics, and I feel that it can be very loosely interpreted for whatever the listener of reader gets out of it. The repetition of certain phrases gives the feeling of someone imagining things, or perhaps the voices in their head. I got an eerie vibe from some particular phrases being repeated, “don’t reach out” and “waiting” stuck with me the most. After doing some research, I found that the songs explores themes of anxiety and the stress of modern life. That the things we feel don’t always translate into reality.
Fragmentation
The lyrics end up contributing to a feeling of disarray and disruption. Since…
Fists Of Fear: you are alive
“Making a fist” by Naomi Shihab Nye in 1988
Composed by Maddieroni&cheese-5th
It is an unexplainable feeling when your life flashes before your eyes. You see the dark side of reality, through a microscopic shard of light. Many levels of experiences can enact similar reactions, such as a timeout when you were younger, or larger forms, like death.
In the lyrical poem, “Making a Fist”, Naomi Shihab Nye recalls a traumatic childhood trip across the border of Mexico with her family. On this trip, Naomi was faced with life altering possibilities, one of which was death. She claimed to have felt symptoms of detachment, and cried out to her mother for reassurance of existence.…
"There There": Psychedelic Rock
By: Big-D (period 6)
-Summary
When I first listened to "There There" by Radiohead, I was curious but also a little disoriented. I was asking “Who’s ‘we’ in ‘we are accidents waiting to happen’?” “What are these ‘arrows’ and ‘sirens’?” “Is this about guilt? loss?” I dug into the lyrics, and found this.
Here’s the song’s key lyric:
"Just 'cause you feel it / doesn't mean it's there."
-Pastiche & Intertextuality
The subtitle “The Boney King of Nowhere” references a character from a British children’s TV show, mashed together with a haunting adult emotional landscape. That strange contrast is postmodern pastiche, blending high and low culture, or childlike imagery with existential dread.
-Fragmentation of Meaning
Lyric: “Just 'cause you…
🥊 Making a Fist = Still Kickin' It
BY: Coach – 6th Period📘 “Making a Fist” by Naomi Shihab Nye
🌀 Postmodernism but with a Road Trip and Stomach Cramps
Shihab Nye gives us a poem that’s got strong Postmodern Fabulism examples. It’s about this kid (her) lying in the backseat of a car, convinced she’s dying on a family road trip. And her mom? Just drops this line like a philosophical mic: “When you can no longer make a fist" (Nye 2).
That’s some magic realism meets mom logic right there. Nye turns a totally normal moment, being sick in a car, into something poetic and mythic. Like, “Hey kid, if your hand can still punch air, you’re doing alright.”
Also? The…
Punching Death in the Face
By: Bakingson Period 5
Introduction-
Naomi Shihab Nye’s poem Making a Fist tells the story of a young girl on a road trip who, feeling sick and afraid, asks her mother how to know if you're still alive. Her mother’s answer—“You can never be sure you are alive until you can make a fist”—turns a small moment into a lasting symbol
of strength. While reading this poem I questioned if the little girl was actually on the verge of dying because it was hard to tell. The poem reflects postmodern elements like minimalism, using spare, clear language to explore deep emotions without over explaining. Instead of offering one clear message, the poem focuses on emotional truth…