Postmodernism is a term applied to a wide-ranging set of developments in critical
theory, philosophy, architecture,
art, literature, and culture,
which are generally characterized as either emerging from, in reaction to, or superseding, modernism.
Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated Pomo[1]) was
originally a reaction to modernism (not necessarily "post" in the purely temporal sense of
"after"). Largely influenced by the disillusionment induced by the Second World War,
postmodernism tends to refer to a cultural, intellectual, or artistic state lacking a clear central hierarchy or organizing
principle and embodying extreme complexity, contradiction, ambiguity, diversity, and interconnectedness or
interreferentiality.[2]
Postmodernity is a derivative referring to non-art aspects of history that were
influenced by the new movement, namely the evolutions in society, economy and culture since the 1960s.[3]. When the idea of a reaction to - or even a rejection of - the movement of
modernism (a late 19th, early 20th centuries art movement) was borrowed by other fields, it
became synonymous in some contexts with postmodernity. The term is closely linked with
poststructuralism (cf. Jacques
Derrida) and with modernism, in terms of a rejection of its bourgeois, elitist culture.[4]
The term was coined in 1949 to describe a dissatisfaction with modern
architecture, leading to the postmodern architecture movement.[5]. Later, the term was applied to several movements, including in
art, music, and literature, that reacted against modern movements, and are typically marked by revival of traditional elements
and techniques.[6] Postmodernism in architecture is marked by the re-emergence of surface ornament, reference to
surrounding buildings in urban architecture, historical reference in decorative forms, and non-orthogonal angles. It may be a
response to the modernist architectural movement known as the International
Style.
If used in other contexts, it is a concept without a universally accepted, short and simple definition; in a variety of
contexts it is used to describe social conditions, movements in the arts, and scholarship (incl. criticism) in reaction to
modernism.
Influence and distinction from postmodernity
Postmodernist ideas in the arts have influenced philosophy and the analysis of
culture and society, expanded the importance of
critical theory, and been the point of departure for works of literature, architecture, and design,
as well as being visible in marketing/business and the interpretation of history,
law and culture, starting in the late 20th century. These developments — re-evaluation of the entire Western value system (love, marriage, popular culture, shift
from industrial to service economy) that
took place since 1950/1960, with a peak in the Social Revolution of 1968 — are described with the
term postmodernity, as opposed to the "-ism"
referring to an opinion or movement. As something being "postmodernist" would be part of the movement, "postmodern" would refer
to aspects of the period of the time since the 1950s, a part of contemporary history; still both terms may be synonymous under some circumstances.
Overview
Postmodernism is a movement of ideas arising from, but also critical of elements of modernism. Because of the wide range of uses of the term, different elements of modernity are viewed as being
coterminous; and different elements of modernity are held to be critiqued.
Each of the different usages of 'postmodernism' is also inevitably related to some argument about the nature of knowledge,
known in philosophy as epistemology. Individuals who invoke the expression nowadays are
implicitly arguing either that there is something fundamentally different about the transmission of meaning in postmodern works
of art; or else that there inheres in modernism certain fundamental flaws in its epistemology.[citation needed]
The argument against the need for the concept is that the "modern" era has not yet arrived at its term; and that the most
important social and political project of our age remains modernism's project of replacing counter-enlightenment and emotionalist
tendencies, as well as combating widesperead cultural ignorance, pervasive superstition, and mindless resistance to technological
and social innovations. From this perspective, the realities of the modern era, and its philosophical underpinnings, are being
challenged by a backlash from precisely that reactionary quarter against which modernism in fact began its initial late
19th-century crusade. On the other hand more nuanced non-postmodernist thinkers and writers (quoted below) hold that
postmodernism is at best simply a period following upon modernism; a hybrid variety of it; or an extension of modernism into
contemporary times; and therefore not a separate period or idea which represents a quantum leap from the theories of art familiar
to us from Stravinsky, Mann, Kandinsky, Mondrian and Baudelaire.
As with all questions of division, there is a range of viewpoints between the hardened extremes of declaring that modernity
has been completely replaced, and the other which sees postmodernism as a useless term that describes nothing. However, the term
applies particularly well to revisionist and deconstructive literature and visual art. It is a contemporary evidence of what
historians meant by Mannerism.
Postmodernist scholars argue[citation needed] that a global, decentralized society such as ours inevitably creates
responses/perceptions that are described as postmodern, such as the rejection of what are seen as the false, imposed unities of
meta-narrative and hegemony; the breaking of traditional
frames of genre, structure and stylistic unity; and the overthrowing of categories that are the result of logocentrism and other forms of artificially imposed order. Scholars who accept the division of
postmodernity as a distinct period believe that society has collectively eschewed modern ideals and instead adopted ideas that
are rooted in the reaction to the restrictions and limitations of those ideas, and that the present is therefore a new historical
period. While the characteristics of postmodern life are sometimes difficult to grasp, most postmodern scholars point to concrete
and visible technological and economic changes that they claim have brought about the new types of thinking.
Critics of the idea claim[citation needed] that it does not represent liberation, but rather a failure of creativity,
and the supplanting of organization with syncretism and bricolage; this latter concept can only be described as anti-intellectual. They argue that postmodernism is
obscurantist, overly dense, and makes assertions about the sciences that are demonstrably false.
There is a great deal of disagreement over whether or not recent technological and cultural changes represent a new historical
period, or merely an extension of the modern one. Complicating matters further, others have argued that even the postmodern era
has already ended, with some commentators asserting culture has entered a post-postmodern period. In his essay "The Death of Postmodernism and Beyond", Alan Kirby has argued that we now inhabit an
entirely new cultural landscape, which he calls "pseudo-modernism".[7] This idea has been extended by A. Carlill and S. Willis, with the latter describing postmodernism as
"more the rough outline of a set of self-referential ideals than a genuine cultural movement". [8]
Approaches to the term
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
As with many other divisions, the use of the term is subject to the lumpers and
splitters problem. There are those who use very small and exact definitions of postmodernism, often for theories perceived
as relativist, nihilist, counter-Enlightenment or antimodern. Others believe
the world has changed so profoundly that the term applies to nearly everything, and use postmodernism in a broad cultural sense.
People who believe postmodernism is really just an aspect of the modernist period (1920s) may instead use terms such as "late
modernism".
- The Postmodern Condition
| “ |
Simplifying to the extreme, I define postmodern as incredulity toward metanarratives. This incredulity is undoubtedly a product of progress in the sciences: but that progress
in turn presupposes it. To the obsolescence of the metanarrative apparatus of legitimation corresponds, most notably, the crisis
of metaphysical philosophy and of the university institution which in the past relied on it. The narrative function is losing its
functors, its great hero, its great dangers, its great voyages, its great goal. It is being dispersed in clouds of narrative
language elements--narrative, but also denotative, prescriptive, descriptive, and so on [...] Where, after the metanarratives,
can legitimacy reside? - Jean-Francois Lyotard[9] |
” |
Additional references to postmodernism:
- "The theory of rejecting theories." Tony Cliff
- "Postmodernist fiction is defined by its temporal disorder, its disregard of linear narrative, its mingling of fictional
forms and its experiments with language." - Barry Lewis, Kazuo Ishiguro
- "It’s the combination of narcissism and nihilism that
really defines postmodernism," Al Gore[10]
- "Postmodernism swims, even wallows, in the fragmentary and the chaotic currents of change as if that is all there is." -
David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1989.[11][12][13]
- "Weird for the sake of weird." Moe Szyslak, The
Simpsons[14]
Development of postmodernism
-
Writers such as John Ralston Saul among others have argued that postmodernism
represents an accumulated disillusionment with the promises of the Enlightenment project and its progress of science, so central
to modern thinking.
Origins in architecture
-
The movement of Postmodernism began with architecture, as a reactionary movement against
the perceived blandness and hostility present in the Modern movement. Modern
Architecture as established and developed by masters such as Walter Gropius and
Philip Johnson was focused on the pursuit of an ideal perfection, harmony of form and
function[15] and dismissal of frivolous ornament[16]. Critics of modernism argued that the attributes of
perfection and minimalism themselves were subjective, and pointed out anachronisms in modern thought and questioned the benefits
of its philosophy.[17] Definitive postmodern architecture
such as the work of Michael Graves rejects the notion of a 'pure' form or 'perfect'
architectonic detail, instead conspicuously drawing from all methods, materials, forms and
colors available to architects. Postmodern architecture began the reaction against the almost totalitarian qualities of Modernist
thought, favoring personal preferences and variety over objective, ultimate truths or principles. It is this atmosphere of
criticism, skepticism and subjectivity that defines the postmodern philosophy.
Notable philosophical and literary contributors
-
Thinkers in the mid and late 19th century and early 20th century, like Søren
Kierkegaard and Friedrich Nietzsche, through their argument against
objectivity, and emphasis on skepticism (especially concerning social morals and norms), laid the groundwork for the
existentialist movement of the 20th century. Other notable precursors of postmodernism
include Laurence Sterne's novel Tristram Shandy, Alfred
Jarry's 'Pataphysics, and the work of Lewis
Carroll. Art and literature of the early part of the 20th century play a significant part in shaping the character of
postmodern culture. Dadaism attacked notions of high art in an attempt to break down the
distinctions between high and low culture; Surrealism further developed concepts of Dadaism
to celebrate the flow of the subconscious with influential techniques such as automatism and
nonsensical juxtapositions (evidence of Surrealisms influence on postmodern thought can be seen in Foucault's and Derrida's
references to Rene Magritte's experiments with signification). Some other significant
contributions to postmodern culture from literary figures include the following: Jorge Luis
Borges experimented in metafiction and magical
realism; William S. Burroughs wrote the prototypical postmodern novel,
Naked Lunch and developed the cut up method (similar to Tristan Tzara's "How to Make a Dadaist Poem") to create other novels such as Nova Express; Samuel Beckett attempted to escape the shadow of
James Joyce by focusing on the failure of language and humanity's inability to overcome its
condition, themes later to be explored in such works as Waiting for Godot.
Writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre and Albert Camus
drew heavily from Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, and other previous thinkers, and brought about a new sense of subjectivity, and
forlornness, which greatly influenced contemporary thinkers, writers, and artists. Karl
Barth's fideist approach to theology and lifestyle, brought an irreverence for
reason, and the rise of subjectivity. Postcolonialism after World War II contributed to the idea that
one cannot have an objectively superior lifestyle or belief. This idea was taken further by the anti-foundationalist philosophers: Heidegger, then
Ludwig Wittgenstein, then Derrida, who
examined the fundamentals of knowledge; they argued that rationality was neither as sure nor as clear as modernists or rationalists assert. Both World Wars contributed to
postmodernism; it is with the end of the Second World War that recognizably postmodernist
attitudes begin to emerge. It is possible to identify the burgeoning anti-establishment movements of the 1960s as the constituting event of postmodernism. The theory gained some of its strongest ground early on in
French academia. In 1971, the Arab-American Theorist Ihab Hassan was one of the first to use
the term in its present form (though it had been used by many others before him, Charles
Olson for example, to refer to other literary trends) in his book: The Dismemberment of Orpheus: Toward a Postmodern
Literature; in it, Hassan traces the development of what he called "literature of silence" through Marquis de Sade, Franz Kafka, Ernest Hemingway, Beckett, and many others, including developments such as the Theatre of the Absurd and the nouveau roman. In 1979
Jean-François Lyotard wrote a short but influential work The Postmodern Condition: A report on knowledge. Also, Richard Rorty wrote Philosophy and the Mirror of
Nature (1979). Jean Baudrillard, Michel
Foucault, and Roland Barthes are also influential in 1970s postmodern theory.
Movements and contributors:
| Influencer |
Year |
Influence |
| Dada movement |
c.1920 |
a focus on the framing of objects and discourse as being as important, or more important, than the work itself |
| Karl Barth |
c.1930 |
fideist approach to theology brought a rise in subjectivity |
| Martin Heidegger |
c.1930 |
rejected the philosophical grounding of the concepts of "subjectivity" and "objectivity" |
| Ludwig Wittgenstein |
c.1950 |
anti-foundationalism, on certainty, a
philosophy of language |
| Thomas Samuel Kuhn |
c.1962 |
posited the rapid change of the basis of scientific knowledge to a provisional consensus of scientists, popularized the term
"paradigm shift" |
| W.V.O. Quine |
c. 1962 |
developed the theses of indeterminacy of translation and ontological relativity, and argued against the possibility of
a priori knowledge |
| Jacques Derrida |
c.1970 |
re-examined the fundamentals of writing and its consequences on philosophy in general; sought to undermine the language of
western metaphysics (deconstruction) |
| Michel Foucault |
c.1975 |
examined discursive power in Discipline and Punish, with Bentham's
panopticon as his model, and also known for saying "language is oppression" (Meaning that language was developed to allow only
those who spoke the language not to be oppressed. All other people that don't speak the language would then be oppressed.) |
| Jean-François Lyotard |
c.1979 |
opposed universality, meta-narratives, and generality |
| Richard Rorty |
c.1979 |
philosophy mistakenly imitates scientific methods; argues for dissolving traditional philosophical problems; anti-foundationalism and anti-essentialism |
| Jean Baudrillard |
c.1981 |
Simulacra and Simulation - reality created by media |
Deconstructivism and deconstruction
-
Deconstruction is a term which is used to denote the application of postmodern ideas of criticism, or theory, to a "text" or
"artifact", based on the architecture deconstructivism. A deconstruction is meant to
undermine the frame of reference and assumptions that underpin the text or the artifact.
In its original use, a "deconstruction" is an important textual "occurrence" described and analyzed by many postmodern authors
and philosophers. They argue that aspects in the text itself would undermine its own
authority or assumptions and that internal contradictions would erase boundaries or categories which the work relied on or
asserted. Poststructuralists beginning with Jacques Derrida, who coined the term, argued
that the existence of deconstructions implied that there was no intrinsic essence to a text, merely the contrast of difference.
This is analogous to the scientific idea that only the variations are real, that there is no established norm to a genetic
population, or the idea that the difference in perception between black and white is the context. A deconstruction is created
when the "deeper" substance of text opposes the text's more "superficial" form. This idea is not isolated to poststructuralists
but is related to the idea of hermeneutics in literature; intellectuals as early as
Plato asserted it and so did modern thinkers such as Leo
Strauss. Derrida's argument is that deconstruction proves that texts have multiple meanings and the "violence" between the
different meanings of text may be elucidated by close textual analysis.
Popularly, close textual analyses describing deconstruction within a text are often themselves called deconstructions.
Derrida argued, however, that deconstruction is not a method or a tool but an occurrence within the text itself. Writings about
deconstruction are therefore referred to in academic circles as deconstructive readings.
Deconstruction is far more important to postmodernism than its seemingly narrow focus on text might imply. According to
Derrida, one consequence of deconstruction is that the text may be defined so broadly as to encompass not just written words but
the entire spectrum of symbols and phenomena within Western
thought. To Derrida, a result of deconstruction is that no Western philosopher has been able to escape successfully from this
large web of text and reach that which is "signified", which they imagined to exist "just beyond" the text.
The more common use of the term is the more general process of pointing to contradictions between the intent and surface of a
work and the assumptions about it. A work then "deconstructs" assumptions when it places them in context. For example, someone
who can pass as the opposite sex may be said to "deconstruct" gender identity, because there is a conflict between the
superficial appearance and the reality of the person's gender.
Social construction, structuralism, poststructuralism
- Further information: Manifestations of Postmodernism
Often opposed to deconstruction are social constructionists, labelled as such within the analytic tradition, but not usually
in the case of the continental tradition. The term was first used in sociologists Peter
Berger and Thomas Luckmann's book The Social Construction of Reality.
Usually in the continental tradition, the terms structuralism or poststructuralism are used. Maurice Merleau-Ponty is seen as the biggest contributor to structuralism, which is epitomized in
the philosophy of Claude Levi-Strauss. Michel
Foucault was also a structuralist but then turned to what would be termed poststructuralism, although he himself declined
to call his work either poststructuralist or postmodern. Structuralism historically gave way to poststructuralism; often the role
of postmodernism within the analytic tradition is played down, although works by major figures of the analytic tradition in the
20th century, including those of Thomas Kuhn and Willard Van Orman Quine, show a similarity with works in the c