Looking at the Master Narrative: A Possible Interpretation Strategy

Abstract

While re-thinking (or, from the perspective of our time, looking at) Modernism, and the concept of modernity, one must have in mind all the contradictions implied by the term. To paraphrase Susan Stanford Friedman, Modernism is (or was) both the culture of rebellion and ‘high’, elitist culture, both negation of tradition and a so-called master narrative. Modernism means different things to different people, but the problem is that, as Stanford Friedman points out, its definitions are not just different, but stand as opposites. Bearing that in mind, the main point of this paper is to try to define/explain/understand what the mentioned master narrative (in the Modernist practices of fine arts) is and how it was created. Is our re-thinking, or looking from a temporal distance, just a mere observation, or, is it inevitable to notice all the different narratives connected to different practices similarly to Jacques Derrida’s différence? In other words, were there that many narratives, would there even be a master one?