more notes on post modernism: the internet as a meta narrative

Is the meta-narrative something that is still valid in our society today?  Part of what post-modern thought implies is that the recent trends have traded one meta, or all encompassing, narrative of society and culture for many local-narratives in which the focus is upon individual experience.  Abstract Expressionism (Pollock, Gottlieb, Rothko, de Kooning) I think was the last death rattle (at least here in America) of the Idea of a meta narrative.  They had embraced this idea of the meta-narrative in their work, which is still referred to as being “heroic”. Their themes are that of redemption, aggression,  and the transcendence of the medium, coinciding with the end of a primarily industrial economy in the west.  The “hero” has since become an obsolete idea.  Not only in the way we look at art but also in our culture.  The new primary focus being a highly individualized service based economy fueled by the rise of the web, and now the web 2.0.  In this realm of the web 2.0 the meta-narrative is almost non existent, with the advent of the blogosphere, countless social networking sites, file sharing, etc.  We no longer exist as one large community, or a single entity, and instead our focus is on that of individual experiences and opinions.  Post-modernity rules the internet, and it deconstructs itself as we build upon the ideas and concepts of it.  It offers every user a unique and tailored experience.  The individual chooses what information to ingest, which information to present, and has full creative control of both.  If you don’t want to look at some part of it, you don’t have to.  If you choose not to divulge a piece or pieces of information you just don’t offer it.  And in doing so individuals have the ability to create themselves as the person they want to be.   The walls have all but come down and the histories of geographical areas and cultures become ever-increasingly less important.   The web 2.0 has become the country that the last few generations have adopted as their homeland.  The internet has become the new meta-narrative and it serves as a canvas on which the children of the digital age paint their own local-narratives onto.  It still amazes me that the deeper I dig the more of an argument I can make for the internet as a microcosm of modern society.  The scientists are working on cloning and creating life in labs, when the web is so much closer than anyone cares to realize.

~ by justinstrickland on October 11, 2007.