Multi-Age Summer The Age of Enlightenment was an era of great skepticism and logical curiosity. The Enlightenment can be broadly defined as an era of philosophical and cultural movements during the 17th and 18th centuries. This era focused on escaping one's self-imposed minority and emphasized logic and reason. Logic was now subsumed into a worldview that held that observation of facts and examination of human life could reveal the truth behind human society and the universe. The Enlightenment concluded that there was a science of man and that the history of humanity was a history of development, which could be advanced with far-sighted thinking. The Enlightenment argued that human life and character could be improved through the use of education and reason. In this curiosity people began to break away from their social class as a cast, giving rise to a mercantilist middle class. The Enlightenment brought interested thinkers into direct conflict with the political and religious establishment which had until then been in control of most cultural and social aspects. They challenged religion with the scientific and factual method, often favoring natural religion instead. Enlightenment thinkers wanted to do more than understand, they wanted to change, as they believed, for the better: they thought that reason and science would improve the universe. The main characteristic of Enlightenment philosophy is a deep faith in the power of reason and rational thought to lead human beings towards a better social structure. The leaders of the Enlightenment called for rebellion against fear and prejudice. They attacked the aristocracy and the church. Candide reflects Voltaire's opposition to the Christian regimes of... middle of paper... society which are inevitable and even in some places desirable. There was often a breakdown of intellectual authority and an investigation of pop culture included in postmodern works. Similar to their modernist precursors, postmodernist writers are interested in both the literary past and new experiments. The retelling of older narratives (including famous novels and fairy tales) and the reworking of genres have worried many famous postmodernists. Modernists occasionally reacted to historical and cultural change with anxiety and despair; the postmodern response to new social developments is more playful and enthusiastic. Toni Morrison's Song of Songs is a postmodern work because it blends themes of race and class, coming-of-age stories, and mythical and realistic genres. It challenges authority and questions the truth following the theme of postmodernism.