Last week in class, we progressed from analyzing the literary aspects of The Kite Runner, such as form, content, and cognition, to readily connecting Hosseini's craft with the attributes of the "post-modern" shift in mindset, writing, and art. The core of our understanding of Postmodernism--to put a roof over the discussion--was rooted in the words "ambiguity" and "multiplicity", We talked about how, in a post-modern world--while we seem to see the beauty in simplicity, contrive its greater meaning, feel its weight--there is such a degree of complexity to our politics, economics, religion, art, and social structure that "no single person can understand or explain it entirely".
We capped our discussion with the quote, "what is close is distant, what is distant is close", This quote directly relates to the "corruption of space", an important attribute of Postmodernism. It is important on a global level because, in a post-modern society, we essentially have the world at our fingertips. We're able to call or Skype someone on the other side of the globe, share photos with them on Flickr, or send them an instant chat message with the click of a button, opening up new opportunities for friendships. However, when it comes to having talked to or seen your best friend in person or even knowing how the neighbor two doors down is doing, we tend to be less persistent.
In my opinion, Postmodernism matters because of this very "corruption of space" and duality about what is close and what is far. In many ways, the spread of the "mobile web" recently and even "wi-fi" a while ago have contributed to corrupt space. Whether you're in the kitchen, bedroom, restaurant down the street, or movie theater, you can still technically browse the web, check your email, take pictures, and so on. Time has extended many of these privileges outside of the house--before, you could only receive mail (not e-mail) at your home; check for a fact in the Encyclopedia, at home, and have a phone conversation with someone, at home. Now, however, we have phones that alert us when we have received mail, the ability to check and manage our bank accounts online, from almost anywhere (as opposed to paying bills by hand), verify any fact with Google on the mobile web, and make a regular or video call, from wherever. The complexity of these technological advancements has corrupted space through virtually giving us the ability to do anything from anywhere--the idea that you could be at a baseball game and have a video conference with your coworker about the meeting the next day, text your friend about their plans for the evening, or even buy a pair of shoes online--all with one device, at one time, at one place.
This technological revolution discourages us, in one way or another, from personal methods of communication, like being in the physical presence of another person or even calling them. Our post-modern generation sees simplicity as being meaningful, as elemental in the big picture. So why bother with the call or visit, when you can send your friend a succinct, abbreviated message from your phone or laptop at your convenience, and have them reply at their's, With this fact it becomes evident that, while the corruption of space Postmodernism have been greatly advanced with the recent improvements in technology, the complexity of life Postmodernism created was essentially the driving force behind these improvements in the first place.
To give an example, students form a huge chunk of the global texters, emailers, and instant-messengers. These days there are a handful of students at each grade level who will play a sport for the school, play a club sport in the same season, and meanwhile be a dedicated musician or actor in a school play. They might have a club meeting for Project Earth, then a soccer game, and after possibly a LaCrosse practice or orchestra rehearsal all in one day. Given this multiplicity, they need a device with which they can let their parents know where they are, converse with their friends, and look up Spanish vocabulary for homework between their activities.
Another important implication of Postmodernism and the corruption of space involves photo sharing, both online and through texts. The fact that I could be in the Carribean, take a picture, and text it to my friend in Illinois, having her receive it within minutes, shows how corrupted space is. I am supposed to be away from our society, on vacation to clear my mind, when instead I am sharing my space with the technological presence of my friend, so to speak. She may not be physically here with me, but if we video-chat, she can see, hear, and almost feel where I am, which corrupts her space too. This ability to share photos real-time, and have live video chats, almost adds a duality to my vacation--not only am I vacationing at this resort, sitting in front of the pool--but I am also splitting my location between a place to converse with my friend, and in one way or another, a theater. A theater, in the sense that I am talking to her live and presenting my location visually; her technological presence is with me, watching.
Overall, this concept of "corrupt space" can range from the simplicity of a video call, as opposed to the complexity of a letter, to the global political and economic trends of our post-modern world. The two can even connect, for example, in a presidential address broadcast via television--a seemingly simple idea, with a set of complex implications. Learning about the logistics of Postmodernism, through its duality of simplicity and complexity, has given us a new way of thinking about and a new perception of The Kite Runner. We notice the different genres of the book, the fragmentation, repetition--and are able to appreciate them, not only as elements of Hosseini's good craft and developed voice, but more importantly, as attributes of the post-modern times.
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