Entering the era of postmodernism, all spheres of social and political life have been affected by this movement, including music, art, literature, and education (Woods 9). Due to the appearance of the Internet, the process of writing has also undergone significant changes. It has become dependent from the computer screen being an alternative, postmodern method of knowledge acquisition and professional writing. In this respect, the problem of subjectivity has considerably contributed to the construction of the postmodern subject.
In addition, the postmodern movement has also affected the style and character of the writing genre, making it more controversial and objective. The postmodern subject, thus, is now more focused on the connection between subjectivity and textual practice.
The appearance of the so-called buzzwords as the result of cyberspace proliferation has altered the functions of texts that considerably affected the construction of the postmodern subject. In particular, the electronic text has become the ideological underpinning of the virtual world where people act as fictional characters (Lee n. p.) By changing the nature and the character of writing and text presentation, the matter of postmodern subject has undergone considerable changes as well.
To be more precise, the ideology of cyberspace provided new approaches and methods for discussing different aspect of political and social life (Turkel 155). Besides, the revolution of computer technology has also influenced the nature and the character of the subject formation (Bolter 16).Therefore, while constructing the postmodern subject, the attention is riveted on disclosing the connection of the real world and the virtual world.
Considering the issues of identity in postmodern era, the subject construction is largely predetermined by the distorted identities created in cyberspace. In this respect, cyberspace identity as the basis of constructing a postmodern subject distorts the existing reality. Due to the fact that language in cyberspace also serves to mask the reality, the changes occurred to it also produce a considerable shift and constructing a meaning and subject of professional writing (Warschauer n.p).
The rise of postmodern era has influenced the language and introduced new topical areas for discussion. The construction of postmodern subject is, therefore, closely connected with destruction of veritable meanings (Lyotard 154.).
Although the purposes and conventions of meaning construction are still associated with disclosing the topic, the introduction of postmodern impact has changed the semantic grounds of topical writing (Dowson and Earnshaw 3). In particular, the main theme of postmodernism is narrowed to correlating between subjectivity and textual practice.
This controversies lead to the creation of postmodern subject that contradict the actual facts by producing the ideas that object to the obvious (Lyotard 129). It should also be noted that the postmodern writing and postmodern text in particular has now acquired the new meaning and functions. With regard to this, the postmodern subject is nothing more but linguistic trick enumerating different components that do not suit each other and, therefore, cannot be put together into a coherent whole (Dowson and Earnshaw 60).
In conclusion, the problem of subject construction in postmodern era is primarily predetermined by the introduction of cyberspace communication. In particular, the approach to professional writing is often guided by the alterations introduced by online communication and the internet.
The problem is that the postmodern subject is concerned with disclosing the ideas that often objects to reality, which is often explained by excessive usage of the Internet. In addition, considerable shift in meaning radically influences the professional writing and construction of postmodern subject construction. It has become focused on the connection between the subjectivity formation and textual practice.
Works Cited
Bolter, Tay David. The Computer as a New Writing Space. Writing Space: The Computer, Hypertext, and the History of Writing. Hillsdale NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991, pp. 15-31.
Dowson, Jane, and Earnshaw, Steven. Postmodern subjects, postmodern texts. Rodopi, 1995.
Lee, Erik Chia-yi. Thinking Cyber-Subjectivity: Ideology and the Subject. Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures. Web.
Lyotard, Jean-Francois. The Postmodern explained: correspondence, 1982-1985. US: University of Minnesota Press, 1993.
Turkle, Sherry. Life on the Screen: Identity in the age of the Internet. NJ: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
Warschauer, Mark. Language, Identity, and the Internet. Race in Cyberspace. US: University of California, 2000.
Woods, Tim. Beginning Postmodernism. US: Manchester University Press, 1999.