Conclusion

The Postmodern era ended in 2278 when a massive nuclear warfare erupted between United States and Russia. Although technological advancements had supplied countries with enough fiscal and military resources for a mostly successful globalization of human rights, the two countries ultimately ended up declaring war on each other after disagreements on the death penalty. Warfare has become more devastating because of the invention of highly effective bombs that have come since the early 2100’s. World War Three wiped out a third of the global population; many have come to believe that technology is a double-edged sword. Artists began to feature grimy textures and grotesque figures in their digital paintings and many written works collectively adopted a more somber tone. Although technology was used to improve human rights, it was also used to bring all the hard work down overnight.

Franck, Thomas M. "Are Human Rights Universal?" Foreign Affairs. Web. http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/56666/thomas-m-franck/are-human-rights-universal

Naqoyqaatsi

Naqoyqatsi is a documentary film directed by Godfrey Reggio in 2002. The title is a Hopi word for “life as war.” The film overwhelms the viewer with its chaotic array of scenes, including clips of an atomic bomb explosion and a dilapidated building. The film transitions from one to another with colorful, distorted images accompanied by classical music. It features much of the technological advancements of the 21^st century, such as Dolly the cloned sheep. The recurrent shots of binary code and machines show that technology has permeated through our lives to the point where it now dominates humanity. It is evident through the various fighting scenes with guns and planes and clips of marching soldiers that technology has facilitated mankind in mass destruction. Naqoyqatsi is skeptical of technology contributing to humanity’s progress because it connects technology to destruction. Much like Catch-22 and “Wounded Soldier,” Naqoyqatsi depicts a world made even more senseless, chaotic and destructive due to wars fueled by technological innovations.

“Naqoyqatsi.” Wikipedia. Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naqoyqatsi

Catch-22

Inspired by the Korean War and his experiences as a bomber plane pilot during World War II, Joseph Heller authored the novel Catch-22. His experiences with the wars influenced the anti-war feelings in the novel.

Set in Italy during World War II, the book focuses on an Air Force soldier named Yossarian who is forced to serve on more missions after the colonel raises the number of required missions before discharge. At one point in the novel, Yossarian attempts to leave by claiming that he is insane, but the doctor prevents him from doing so because by declaring himself as insane, he is proving that he is sane because a sane soldier would claim to be insane in order to get away from the war. Yossarian is stuck in a paradoxical situation in which he cannot escape because of its contradictory rules. In addition to the paradox, the novel is riddled with instances of absurdity, such as when Metcalf and the colonel argue over some trivial lines:

“Now where were we? Read me back the last line."

"'Read me back the last line,'" read back the corporal who could take shorthand.

"Not my last line, stupid!" the colonel shouted. "Somebody else's."

"'Read me back the last line,'" read back the corporal.

"That's my last line again!" shrieked the colonel, turning purple with anger.

 These examples serve to stress the illogical aspect of war and show the reader that war is neither glorious nor heroic, but rather absurd and irrational.

The book is characterized as postmodern not only because of its postmodernist view on war, but also because of its nonlinear, fragmented structure and its depiction of Yossarian as the anti-hero. Catch-22 has no real conclusion at the end and the narrative frequently jumps from one scene to another. Rather than follow a traditional plot pattern, the novel deviates from it. Also, Yossarian is seen as cowardly and selfish because he only cares about surviving the war and attempts to avoid the dangerous missions by faking his illness, whereas a traditional hero character would have fulfilled his duty. 

 Like “Wounded Soldier,” Catch-22 portrays the soldiers’ lives as gruesome and far from heroic. “Boys on every side of the bomb lines were laying down their lives for what they had been told was their country.” Death is a constant presence in a soldier’s time at war, and the men are giving up their lives because they have been manipulated to do so. Furthermore, the slaughter of more people made possible by the invention of bombs lead to a question- is it sensible to end even more lives with the use of technology? This is echoed in Naqoyqatsi, which depicts modernized warfare as destructive and meaningless.

"Catch-22." Wikipedia. Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch_22#Characters 

Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1961. Print.

"Catch-22 as Postmodern Literature." 20-th Century-Philosophy. Web. https://20th-century-philosophy.wikispaces.com/Catch-22+as+Postmodern+Literature 

Wounded Soldier

Otto Dix fought in the trenches of Germany in World War I, where he volunteered to fight in the machine gun unit. Before the war, many people believed that serving in the war was an honorable experience and that it would be over by Christmas. However, the technological advancements such as fighter planes, poison gas and machine guns prolonged the war and dramatically increased the number of deaths. After being traumatized by the atrocities of war, Dix began to question the purpose of war and attempted to translate his experiences onto his art. This, in turn, changed many people’s perspectives on warfare by exposing them to the brutality of World War I. 

           The painting “Wounded Soldier,” illustrates a soldier whose face is etched with horror and pain. His helmet has been smeared with black markings, possibly blood and dirt, which suggests that he has seen plenty of violence. The messy splattering of black and white tones around the soldier’s body represents the chaos and bleakness of war. Instead of depicting glory and honor, Dix depicts the harsh reality of war with a wounded, terrified soldier. “Wounded Soldier” ultimately changed how many people reacted to World War I. The shift from viewing war as glorious to horrifying led to the Postmodernist rejection of beauty and disbelief in progress. Many who had experienced the Great War, including Dix, suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and sought to express their disturbances through mediums such as art. Thus, the notion of “beauty” in art was rejected because it did not represent the reality that people had experienced. And although technological progresses such as trains had made their lives more convenient, weapons such as machine guns made people question whether technology was necessarily a factor in improving lives and permanently changed their outlook on war as well. “Wounded Soldier,” along with Naqoyqatsi and Catch-22, show that war, made more deadly by technological advancements, is a senseless and destructive event. 

Potash, Brett. Art Lecture Notes.  

“Otto Dix.” Wikipedia. Web. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Dix
 
Henshaw, Mark. "The Art of War- Otto Dix's Der Krieg [War] Cycle 1924." National Gallery of Australia. Web. http://www.nga.gov.au/dix/   

Intro

With the introduction of many technological innovations such as automobiles and frozen food, ways of life became more convenient. People began to believe that technology would move humanity forward indefinitely and help us eventually achieve perfection. However, as the twentieth century approached and the advent of modernized weapons enabled mass killings, people began to question whether technology was necessarily helpful to humanity. War became even more devastating with these advancements, and people began to express their skepticism of war and technology through works such as Otto Dix’s “Wounded Soldier”, Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 and Godfrey Reggio’s Naqoyqatsi.