Traditonal Modern Postmodern Hum156 2008

	TRADITONAL	MODERN	POSTMODERN?
Origins	Rooted in ancient pasts, May include ancient civilizations, empires	Rooted in Western Renaissance, Enlightenment, Scientific and Industrial Revolutions: c. 16^th century to present	Rooted in 20^th century, especially after World War II. \ Still emerging
Production	Mostly or completely agricultural, growing crops, raising animals May include hunter-gatherer activities	Industrial, commercial, capitalist Based on production and exchange of goods for money, rise of credit economy	Evolving world economy, increasingly based on production of knowledge and services, electronic transfer of money
Social Organization	Based in small communities, villages, May have included large cities of ancient past; kinship, family especially important	Increasingly urban—based in and around cities Emphasis on the individual in the nation-state	Growth of “mega-cities” Development of new communities with increasing populations Growing emphasis on diversity of groups and structures New “virtual” communities But also fragmentation (“devolution”) of nationalities based on ethnicity
Concept of Time	Cyclical, related to agricultural seasons Time originates with creation of humanity Epochs often going through cycle of birth-growth-decline-destruction-rebirth.	Defined by clock Specific times structure specific activities Time measured by new understanding of a “clockwork” universe Possibility of “clock” running down—“heat death” of universe	Time functions in different ways in different contexts—scientific, social, commercial, etc. Confused, uncertain? Time understood as physically relative to space, as psychologically relative, etc.
Concept of History	Local histories marked by specific events, rulers, other noteworthy features Passed down through songs, legends, stories	Linear, progressive, tending toward improvement or perfection History is set of recorded events, understood in terms of cause-and-effect, possibly predictable	Histories are relative to available records, motives of record-keepers Historical events are interactive, chaotic, all influencing each other in often-unpredictable ways.
Religion	Usually polytheistic, often animist, tied to nature World is governed by spirits, often unpredictable in behavior.	Notion of single transcendent God with understandable plan for humanity, But also growing skepticism, uncertainty.	Search for reclamation of older values, sometimes in violent ways But also redefinition of “spiritual” in broader terms that go beyond logic, science, reason.
Story and Narrative	Often preliterate, oral May include written religious texts, quasi-religious texts and other literary forms that get written down, but especially for relatively small, elite groups.	Written and printed literature assumes separate identity "Writer” becomes a profession; use of story for entertainment, “art for art’s sake” But also becomes method of social criticism Printing allows literature to become widespread and a commodity for sale. Literature finds audience in growing middle class But writers also begin to explore different ways of telling stories	Growing sense of how narrative structures daily lives and actions Boundaries between “fiction” and “nonfiction” blur The internet and other media offer instantaneous transmission, widespread access to creating and reading Narrative often self-referential New media mean some decline in written literature but proliferation of new forms of story-telling, blurred distinctions between producers and consumers.
Visual Arts and Music	Usually decorative or related to religion and belief, magical propertie Depictions of nature, invocation of spiritual worlds, celebrations of historical events and rulers, etc. Concept of “art” as separate category unrelated to practical use is minimal or unknown.	Visual arts emerge from religious focus to depicting the physical world and recording middle-class life and lives Individual personality and emotion become major values “Art” emerges as separate category of human activity. Artists explore formal properties of their media: light, color, sound, and form May also incorporate social criticism	Definition of “art” changes with new media and forms Expands into new areas and content Awareness of properties of seeing, hearing, experiencing Boundaries of "high" art, and popular or mass art blur Often involves critique of or return to earlier traditional and modern forms of art.

Colonialism: Modern, industrialized societies (mainly European—Britain, France, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Germany, Italy) take control of territories for economic and military advantage, resettlement of emigrants, etc.