Postmodernism in America 3

Years ago, I loved reading the works of Hermann Hesse, who partly inspired the Hippi lifestyles of the American left in the sixties. He also inspired George Lucas and his mediocre Star Wars films.

Herman Hesse's last work was the Glass Bead Game, Magister Ludi "Master of the Game."

Post-Modernism is a game with alot of rules. You can't compare apples and oranges. You cannot compare a Chinese poem from the twelve century to a poem by John Dunn in whatever century he wrote. There has to be an ideological kinship that is well established. Shakespeare can be compared to be Beatles, but not to rap music although I can imagine a rap version of "to be or not to be."

T.S. Eliot, the closest thing to a English existentialist (existence precedes essence. I was an existentialist until I realized how much America hates the French existentialists. In some ways, I am still a Christian existentialist (we had to create God to make us moral) ), has been compared to black rap stars by Cornel West. I don't know if I agree but I think it's great that existential angst is in vogue again.

I once tried to compare Kennedy to Kim Jung Il because they were both womanizers and used the nuclear threat, but this was shot down pretty quickly by a very charming and intelligent woman who thought I was joking.

Besides its superficial aspects, the best Post-Modernists are professors who are able to take the context of a text and make it relevant to the politics, life, films, etc. Gregory Nagy was, by far, the best professor I ever had in this respect.

Now, it may seem, since I am a generalist, that I know alot but I am only scratching the surface of postmodernism. Postmodernism is a living, breathing system almost and it influences almost everyone's behavior since it is intimately connected to culture in America. And culture is a home although it is a very crowded home. But to emphasize again, specialists are the best postmodernists and there is literally no author but a community of the best minds in the world who perhaps think that there is no solution to historical injustices, etc.