How have my ideas of Modernity changed? To answer honestly, I’m not sure that they have much. While much more educated on the subject through the various readings and discussions I will admit to being just as confused about my feelings on the Modernity as when we first started in January. We have studied Marx’s interpretation on human labour and commodification, Nietzche’s theories behind nature and human cultural practices, Freud’s theories of the unconscious, Baudelaire’s ideas about Modernity, Gogol and surrealism, issues with human existence according to Sartre, modern architecture in Metropolis and Latour’s rejection of Modernity. Just as we have covered a broad range of topics, we have learned that Modernity cannot just be contained in a single definition, but instead is an interdisciplinary term, with each term having its own way of dealing with problems or issues. All of these modernist thinkers contribute something innovative and different as an attempt to make sense of an individual’s place in the world. They each try to answer the question “why are we here?” While each of these theorists attempt to answer this I do not feel that I can answer this question any easier than I had prior to this course. If anything, I am only asking more questions. Perhaps that is what modernity is to me… questioning the world that surrounds us in an attempt to find reason to human existence. While it can threaten one’s security and the comfort that may have come before such knowledge, I believe that it is through this process of deconstruction and understanding of such Modernist theories that positive changes, both in the individual and his or her surrounding world, can transpire.
Thanks for a great semester!
Heather
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