Introduction

Postmodernism was brought along largely by World War 1 and the devastation and destruction it created. People responded to the war by questioning technology and portraying combat in a negative light. The once romanticized, hero stories turned into ludicrous accounts that ridiculed war, as seen in Catch 22, or disturbing portrayals of what war, and ultimately technology, has created, as illustrated by Dix’s painting Wounded Soldier.  Satirical news programs such as the Daily Show by John Stewart, act in a way similar to Catch 22, highlighting the ridiculous in order to point out the devastation and damage war creates. Postmodernism attacks the traditional glorification of war and instead shows the true horrors and dilemmas that war creates.  

Wounded Soldier by Otto Dix

Wounded Soldier is a painting by Otto Dix, a German painter who served during World War I. After coming back from the war, Dix was haunted by the destruction he saw and translated that onto canvas. The painting depicts a soldier in immense pain. By painting in black and gray tones, Dix gives the piece a hopeless and haunting feeling. The mangled soldier, seeming to be crying out in pain, is one of many that Dix witnessed while serving in the war.

This piece captures how the postmodern era felt about war. Instead of showing a hero, triumphing and killing his enemy, this painting illustrates a dying man, afraid and in pain. There is nothing glamorous and heroic about how this soldier is portrayed. The dreary colors enhance the feeling of helplessness that was not before seen in war depictions. Dix attempts to show a true war image, complete with wounds, fright, and hopelessness. This painting not only shows how terrifying and destructive war is, but also gives off a feeling of horror and devastation that had before been absent in paintings of war.

Like Catch 22 and The Daily Show, Wounded Soldier attempts to open people’s eyes to the horrors of war. All three of these pieces show how horrible and scary war can be. However, Dix’s painting takes on a much more serious approach than the first two. Instead of using irony and humor to portray war, Dix uses an upfront approach where what you see is what you get to prove his point.

Otto Dix, Wounded Soldier, 1916. http://www.artexpertswebsite.com/pages/artists/artists_a-k/dix/Dix_WoundedSoldier1924.jpg

Catch-22

Catch 22 is a satirical novel by Joseph Heller, set during World War II. The book follows Captain John Yossarian, depicting his experiences and the interactions he has with others. The novel uses a non-linear time line and focuses on the absurd. Yossarian and his colleagues endure a ridiculous experience defined by bureaucracy and violence. The phrase Catch-22 refers to the idea that only the crazy can leave war, but in order to leave you have to ask and only a sane person would ask to leave so therefore you cannot. The book as a whole attempts to tell the story of war like never before.

By focusing on an obviously ridiculous account of war and using satire to make a point, Heller captures the essence of the postmodern era. The novel stresses the illogical and by doing so, it pokes fun of war in general. A prime example of this is when Heller describes a back and forth between two highly ranked officials where they argue over lines:
"Read me back the last line."
"Read me back the last line" read back the corporal who could take shorthand.
"Not my last line, stupid!" the colonel shouted.
This interaction continues in a similar manner, and is seen throughout the book. The once heroic, war figures are, in this book, seen as idiotic and humorous. Heller does this in order to make evident the down falls of war. By using satire and over-playing the ridiculous, Heller shows the reader that war is not something glamorous nor heroic. The book instead shows the postmodern ideal that war brings about destruction, not only of war victims, but also the people fighting. These people end up with PTSD and other non-glamorous illnesses when they return that show the true horrors that war causes. 

Like the other exhibits, Catch 22 tries to bring awareness to the downfalls of war. It attempts to show the reader that war is not glamorous and heroic, much like the other two pieces. In a style similar to John Stewart, Heller captures the ridiculous and absurd to prove his point. 

Heller, Joseph, and Herbert Svenkerud. Catch 22. Trondhjem: J.W. Cappelens Forlag, 1994. Print.

The Daily Show

The Daily Show with John Stewart is a news program on Comedy Central. They deliver the news in a non-conventional way, using satire and irony to make their point. In particular, their coverage of wars, such as the Iraq War, show how they use dark humor and satire to convey their true meaning.

On the show's website, they state "it's even better than being informed". This is just one example of countless statements the show and John Stewart make that are ironic or satirical. By conveying the news in this way, the show is exemplifying postmodern ideas. In their coverage of the Iraq war, the show poked fun at the intentions behind the war and the president in order to reveal the absurdity behind it as well as the bias and corruption within the government. Instead of being patriotic and supporting the war, the show breaks down the heroic war facade to reveal the truth. 
 

Like Catch 22, the Daily Show utilizes humor and satire, as well as irony, to enhance its postmodern point of view. By poking fun of war in way, the two bring war off its high shelf and examine it close-up to reveal laughable flaws in the system. These same flaws are seen in Dix's work Wounded Soldier, though that piece takes the opposite approach as Heller and Stewart and shows the truth of war for what it is, without any editing.

"The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Political Comedy - Fake News | Comedy Central." The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - Political Comedy - Fake News | Comedy Central. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2013.

The Aftermath

The Postmodern era came to a stop after a worldwide riot. Killing millions and destroying town and cities, this riot was the most violent and devastating that the world had ever seen. People acted out of their own interest, claiming that they could do whatever they wanted because their morals were subjective and no one could judge them or sentence them to any punishment. The world became what Pinker feared, "if morality is a mere trick of the brain, some may fear, our very grounds for being moral could be eroded" (The Moral Instinct). It was a slippery slope that people began to fall down. They stopped seeing even things like killing and theft as black and white, and instead those fell into a grey area that people found hard to come out of. Everything became relative to the wants and wishes of what people desired. Like it says in the Dictatorship of Relativism, "it does not recognize anything as absolute and leaves as the ultimate measure only the measure of each one and his desires" (Kimball, Dictatorship of Relativism).

After the riots, much like after World War I, people began to see the wrongs in their ways of thinking. They looked around at the destruction they had created by trying to make a subjective world, and, like with the technology in war, thought this "progress" surely could not truely be right. If something that was supposed to help society and move it away from the evils of war and devastion could cause so much chaos and harm, then it wasn't the right route to take either. People began to move back towards a objective way of thinking. Slowly, things started to look more black and white. People began to follow not only what they wanted, but also what would better society and the world.

Franck, Thomas. "Are Human Rights Universal?" Global. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2013.

Kimball, Roger. "The New Criterion." Introduction: The Dictatorship of Relativism by Roger Kimball -. N.p., Jan. 2009. Web. 15 May 2013.

Pinker, Steven. "The Moral Instinct". January 13, 2008.