Defining Postmodernism through Heart of Darkness
             What is Postmodernism? Andy Crouch from Christianity Today describes Postmodernism as anything, everything, and nothing, an academic Rorschach blot on which nervous modernists and others project all their fantasies, both benign and terrifying. Crouch goes on to explain how Postmodernism entails what an author is most afraid of while on the other hand promises that which they most secretly desire. This definition, in its twirling contradiction, actually doesn't define anything, all it does lead to a more confusing understanding of what Postmodernism actually is. Searching for a concrete definition of Postmodernism proved to be a near impossible task, the explanation that accurately fits the definition to me is one provided by Rainer Friedrich. Friedrich's definition implies that Postmodernism is undefinable, and today is applied to anything a Modern reader happens to like. This definition shows how Postmodernism is impossible to explain without Modernism. I believe the relationship between these two movements are so similar that Postmodernism is merely an extension of Modernism within a different time, with different values, and essentially a different culture.
             The early 20th century was a completely different time than today. Writers, architects, and artist were reforming their ways to break off from the norm of the Victorian era. In literature, this new 'Modern' movement, was headed by a Polish sailor born as Jozef Konrad, but known to the world as writer Joseph Conrad. Conrad was different from the Modern writers to come in the near future. He lived through the experiences he retold. Conrad lived his life at sea, experienced humanity first-hand, and redelivered it to a time that, ready or not, was receiving a depiction of real life. Conrad created stories that were told in ways that had never been told before, contradicting literary styles that...