The Dramatic Monologue in Post Postmodernism

 Some of my most recent blogs have taken the form of modern dramatic monologues. See Robert Browning. The writer addresses the reader as though he is speaking about himself, the tone is slightly persuasive and there is often an implied immediacy. Example: You’re at work, bored out of your mind, and you decide to blog about how blogs are defining post postmodernism and its literature.

This is the next step in the line of Free Indirect Discourse, where the writer’s narration can be confused with the thoughts of the character. In fact, in this blog style of writing, which most MFA programs encourage, it can be hard to distinguish between the narrator and you, the reader. The result is an uncanny intimacy between us. You come to feel as if we have shared the same experiences. And isn’t that the goal of most excellent writing?

What else about this solidifying post postmodernism? Well we no longer need to validate our existence through technology – we want to create experience through technology. We don’t want merely to social network, we want to meet people in reality by using Facebook Places. We aren’t as concerned with avant garde art and breaking from tradition; instead, the avant garde is made by those who are most familiar with tradition and who give their own little tweak to it.