Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated pomo) 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.
In architecture, art, music and literature, postmodernism is a name for
many
stylistic reactions to, and developments from, modernism. Postmodern style is often
characterized
by eclecticism, digression, collage, pastiche, and irony. Some artistic movements commonly
called
postmodern are pop art, architectural deconstructivism, magical realism in literature, maximalism, and neo-romanticism. Postmodern theorists
see
postmodern art as a conflation or reversal of well-established
modernist
systems, such as the roles of artist versus audience, seriousness
versus
play, or high culture versus kitsch.
In sociology, postmodernism is described as being the result of economic, cultural and demographic changes, related terms in
this
context include post-industrial society, Late capitalism, and it is attributed
to
factors the rise of the service economy, the importance of the mass media and the rise of an
increasingly
interdependent world economy. (See also Postmodern, Information age, Globalization, Global village, Media theory).
As a cultural movement, postmodernism is an
aspect
of postmodernity, which is broadly
defined
as the condition of Western society after modernity. The adjective postmodern
can refer to aspects of either postmodernism or postmodernity.
According
to postmodern theorist Jean-François Lyotard, postmodernity
is characterized as an "incredulity toward metanarratives", meaning that in the
era
of postmodern culture, people have lost faith in grand, universal
stories,
and have instead begun to organize their cultural life around a variety
of
more local and subcultural myths and stories. See La
Condition
postmoderne: Rapport sur le savoir (The Post Modern Condition: A
Report
on Knowledge) in 1979, and the results of acceptance of
postmodernism
is the view that different realms of discourse are incomensurable and
incapable
of judging the results of other discourse, a conclusion he drew in La
Differend (1983).
In philosophy, where the term is
extensively
used, it applies to movements that include post-structuralism, deconstruction, multiculturalism, gender studies and literary theory, sometimes called
simply
"theory". It emerged beginning in the 1950's as a critique of doctrines
such
as positivism and emphasizes the
importance
of power relationships, personalization and discourse in the "construction" of
truth
and world views. In this context it has been used by many critical theorists to assert that
postmodernism is a break with the artistic and philosophical tradition of the Enlightenment, which they
characterize
as a quest for an ever-grander and more universal system of aesthetics, ethics, and knowledge. They present postmodernism
as
a radical criticism of Western philosophy. Postmodern philosophy draws on a number
of
approaches to criticize Western thought, including historicism, and psychoanalytic theory.
The term postmodernism is also used in a broader pejorative
sense
to describe attitudes, sometimes part of the general culture, and
sometimes
specifically aimed at postmodern critical theory, perceived as relativist, nihilist, counter-Enlightenment or antimodern, particularly in
relationship
to critiques of rationalism, universalism, or science. It is also sometimes used to
describe
social changes which are held to be antithetical to traditional systems
of
morality, particularly by evangelical Christians.
The role, proper usage, and meaning of postmodernism are
matters
of intense debate and vary widely with context.
The development of postmodernism
Features of postmodern culture begin to arise in the 1920s with the emergence of the dada movement, which featured collage
and
a focus on the framing of objects and discourse as being as important,
or
more important, than the work itself. Another strand which would have
tremendous
impact on post-modernism would be the existentialists, who placed the
centrality
of the individual narrative as being the source of morals and
understanding.
However, it is with the end of the Second World War that recognizably
post-modernist
attitudes begin to emerge.
Central to these is the focusing on the problems of any knowledge which is founded on anything
external
to an individual. Post-modernism, while
widely
diverse in its forms, almost invariably begins from the problem of
knowledge
which is broadly disseminated in its form, but not limited in its
interpretation.
Post-modernism rapidly developed a vocabulary of anti-enlightenment
rhetoric,
used to argue that rationality was neither as sure or as clear as
rationalists
supposed, and that knowledge was inherently linked to time, place,
social
position and other factors from which an individual constructs
their
view of knowledge. To escape from constructed knowledge, it then
becomes necessary
to critique it, and thus deconstruct the asserted knowledge. Jacques Derrida argued that to defend
against
the inevitable self-deconstruction of knowledge, systems of power,
called
hegemony would have to postulate an
original
utterance, the logos. This "privileging" of an original
utterance
is called "logocentrism". Instead of rooting knowledge in particular
utterances,
or "texts", the basis of knowledge was seen to be in the free play of
discourse
itself, an idea rooted in Wittgenstein's idea of a language game.
This
emphasis on the allowability of free play within the context of
conversation
and discourse leads postmodernism to adopt the stance of irony,
paradox,
textual manipulation, reference and tropes.
Armed with this process of questioning the social basis of
assertions,
postmodernist philosophers began to attack unities of modernism, and
particularly
unities seen as being rooted in the Enlightenment. Since Modernism had made the Enlightenment a
central
source of its superiority over the Victorian and Romantic periods, this attack amounted
to
an indirect attack on the establishment of modernism itself. Perhaps
the
most striking examples of this skepticism are to be found in the works
of
French cultural theorist, Jean Baudrillard. In his book Simulacra
and
Simulation, he contends that social 'reality' no longer exists in
the conventional sense, but has been supplanted by an endless
procession
of simulacra. The mass media, and other
forms
of mass cultural production, generate constant re-appropriation and
re-contextualisation
of familiar cultural symbols and images, fundamentally shifting our
experience
away from 'reality', to 'hyperreality'. Along this line, it is
significant
that the beginning of postmodern architecture is not considered to be
the
construction of any great building, but the destruction of the
modernist
Pruitt-Igoe housing project (see Minoru Yamasaki).
Postmodernism therefore has an obvious distrust toward claims about
truth,
ethics, or beauty being rooted in anything other than individual
perception
and group construction. Utopian ideals of universally
applicable truths
or aesthetics give way to provisional, decentered, local petit
recits
which, rather than referencing an underlying universal truth or aesthetic, point only to other ideas
and
cultural artifacts, themselves subject to
interpretation
and re-interpretation. The "truth", since it can only be understood by
all
of its connections is perpetually "deferred", never reaching a point of
fixed
knowledge which can be called "the truth." This emphasis on
construction
and consensus is often used to attack science, as the Sokal Affair shows.
Postmodernism is often used in a larger sense, meaning the entire
trend of thought in the late 20th century, and the social and
philosophical realities of that period. Marxist critics argue that
post-modernism is symptomatic of
"late capitalism" and the decline of institutions, particularly the
nation-state. Other thinkers assert that post-modernity is the natural
reaction to mass broadcasting and a society conditioned to mass
production and mass political decision making. The ability of knowledge
to be endlessly copied defeats attempts
to constrain interpretation, or to set "originality" by simple means
such
as the production of a work. From this perspective, the schools of
thought labelled "postmodern" are not as widely at odds with their time
period as the polemics and arguments appear, pointing, for example, to
the shift of the basis of scientific knowledge to a provisional
consensus of scientists, as posited by Thomas Kuhn. Post-modernism is seen, in
this view, as being conscious of the nature of the discontinuity
between modern
and post-modern periods which is generally present.
Postmodernism has manifestations in many modern academic and
non-academic
disciplines: philosophy, theology, art, architecture, film, television, music, theatre, sociology, fashion, technology, literature, and communications are all
heavily
influenced by postmodern trends and ideas, and are thoroughly
scrutinised
from postmodern perspectives. Crucial to these are the denial of
customary
expectations, the use of non-orthogonal angles in buildings such as the
work
of Frank Gehry, and the shift in arts
exemplified
by the rise of minimalism in art and music.
Post-modern
philosophy often labels itself as critical theory and grounds the
construction
of identity in the mass media.
(Note: "post-modern" tends to be used by critics, "postmodern" by
supporters.
This may be because postmodern is considered merely a symbol and its
meaning
(as obtained through simple linguistic analysis) can be ignored.)
Postmodernism was first identified as a theoretical discipline in
the
1980s, but as a cultural movement it
predates
them by many years. Exactly when modernism began to give way to
postmodernism
is difficult to pinpoint, if not simply impossible. Some theorists
reject
that such a distinction even exists, viewing postmodernism, for all its
claims
of fragmentation and plurality, as still existing within a larger
'modernist'
framework. The philosopher Jürgen Habermas is a strong proponent
of this view, which has aspects of a lumpers/splitters problem: is the
entire
20th century one period, or two distinct periods?
The theory gained some of its strongest ground early on in French
academia.
In 1979 Jean-François Lyotard wrote a short
but influential work The Postmodern Condition : a report on
knowledge.
Jean Baudrillard, Michel Foucault, and Roland Barthes (in his more
post-structural
work) are also strongly influential in postmodern theory. Postmodernism
is
closely allied with several contemporary academic disciplines, most
notably those connected with sociology. Many of its assumptions are
integral to feminist and post-colonial theory.
Some identify the burgeoning anti-establishment movements of the 1960s as the earliest trend out of
cultural
modernity toward postmodernism.
Tracing it further back, some identify its roots in the breakdown of
Hegelian
idealism, and the impact of both World Wars (perhaps even the concept
of
a World War). Heidegger and Derrida were influential in
re-examining
the fundamentals of knowledge, together with the work of Ludwig Wittgenstein and his philosophy of action, Soren Kierkegaard's and Karl Barth's important fideist approach
to
theology, and even the nihilism of Nietzsche's philosophy. Michel Foucault's application of Hegel to thinking about the body is
also
identified as an important landmark. While it is rare to pin down the
specific
origins of any large cultural shift, it is fair to assume that
postmodernism
represents an accumulated disillusionment with the promises of the
Enlightenment
project and its progress of science, so central to modern thinking.
The movement has had diverse political ramifications: its
anti-ideological
insights appear conducive to, and strongly associated with, the feminist movement, racial equality
movements,
gay rights movements, most forms of
late
20th century anarchism, even the peace movement and various hybrids of
these
in the current anti-globalization movement.
Unsurprisingly,
none of these institutions entirely embraces all aspects of the
postmodern
movement, but reflect or, in true postmodern style, borrow from some of
its
core ideas.
Early usage of the term
In an essay From Postmodernism to Postmodernity: the
Local/Global Context,
[1] (http://www.ihabhassan.com/postmodernism_to_postmodernity.htm)
Ihab Hassan points out a number of instances in which the term
postmodernism
was used before the term became popular:
- John Watkins Chapman, an English
salon
painter, in the 1870s, to mean Post-Impressionism.
- Federico de Onís, 1934, (postmodernismo) to mean a
reaction against the difficulty and experimentalism of modernist poetry.
- Arnold J. Toynbee, in 1939, to mean the end of the "modern,"
Western bourgeois order dating back to the
seventeenth
century.
- Bernard Smith, in 1945, to mean the movement of socialist realism in painting.
- Charles Olson, during the 1950s.
- Irving Howe and Harry
Levin, in 1959 and 1960, respectively, to mean a decline
in
high modernist culture.
Also, many cite Charles Jencks' 1977 "The Language of Postmodern
Architecture"
among the earliest works which shaped the use of the term today.
Postmodernism's manifestations
Postmodernism in language
Postmodern philosophers are often regarded as difficult to read, and
the
critical theory that has sprung up in the wake of postmodernism has
often
been ridiculed for its stilted syntax and attempts to combine polemical
tone
and a vast array of new coinages. However, similar charges could be
levelled
at the works of previous eras, such as the works of Immanuel Kant, as well as at the entire
tradition
of Greek thought in antiquity.
More important to postmodernism's role in language is the focus on
the implied meaning of words and forms, the power structures that are
accepted as part of the way words are used, from the use of the word
"Man" with a capital
"M" to refer to the collective humanity, to the default of the word
"he"
in English as a pronoun for a person of gender unknown to the speaker,
or
as a casual replacement for the word "one". This, however, is merely
the most
obvious example of the changing relationship between diction and
discourse which postmodernism presents.
An important concept in postmodernism's view of language is the idea
of
"play". In the context of postmodernism, play means changing the
framework
which connects ideas, and thus allows the troping, or turning, of a
metaphor
or word from one context to another, or from one frame of reference to
another.
Since, in postmodern thought, the "text" is a series of "markings"
whose meaning
is imputed by the reader, and not by the author, this play is the means
by
which the reader constructs or interprets the text, and the means by
which
the author gains a presence in the reader's mind. Play then involves
invoking
words in a manner which undermines their authority, by mocking their
assumptions
or style, or by layers of misdirection as to the intention of the
author.
This view of writing is not without harsh detractors, who regard it
as needlessly difficult and obscure, and a violation of the implicit
contract of lucidity between author and reader: that an author has
something to communicate, and shall choose words which transmit the
idea as transparently as possible to the reader. Thus postmodernism in
language has often been identified with poor writing and communication
skills. The term pomobabble came to
be within pop culture to illustrate this trend.
Postmodernism in art
Where modernists hoped to unearth universals or the fundamentals of
art, postmodernism aims to unseat them, to embrace diversity and
contradiction. A postmodern approach to art thus rejects the
distinction between low and high art forms. It rejects rigid genre
boundaries and favors eclecticism, the mixing of ideas and forms.
Partly due to this rejection, it promotes
parody, irony, and playfulness, commonly
referred
to as jouissance by postmodern theorists.
Unlike
modern art, postmodern art does not approach this fragmentation as
somehow
faulty or undesirable, but rather celebrates it. As the gravity of the
search
for underlying truth is relieved, it is replaced with 'play'. As
postmodern
icon David Byrne, and his band Talking Heads said: 'Stop making sense'.
Post-modernity, in attacking the perceived elitist approach of
Modernism, sought greater connection with broader audiences. This is
often labelled 'accessibility'
and is a central point of dispute in the question of the value of
postmodern
art. It has also embraced the mixing of words with art, collage and
other
movements in modernity, in an attempt to create more multiplicity of
medium
and message. Much of this centers on a shift of basic subject matter:
postmodern
artists regard the mass media as a fundamental subject for art, and use
forms,
tropes, and materials - such as banks of video monitors, found art, and
depictions
of media objects - as focal points for their art. Andy Warhol is an early example of
postmodern art in action, with his appropriation of common popular
symbols and "ready-made"
cultural artifacts, bringing the previously mundane or trivial onto the
previously
hallowed ground of high art.
Postmodernism's critical stance is interlinked with presenting new
appraisals
of previous works. As implied above the works of the "Dada" movement
received
greater attention, as did collagists such as Robert Rauschenberg, whose works were
initially
considered unimportant in the context of the modernism of the 1950s, but who, by the 1980s, began to be seen as seminal.
Post-modernism
also elevated the importance of cinema in artistic discussions, placing
it
on a peer level with the other fine arts. This is both because of the
blurring
of distinctions between "high" and "low" forms, and because of the
recognition
that cinema represented the creation of simulacra which was later
duplicated
in the other arts.
Postmodernism in architecture
Main Article Postmodern architecture
As with many cultural movements, one of postmodernism's most
pronounced
and visible ideas can be seen in architecture. The functional, and
formalized,
shapes and spaces of the modernist movement are replaced by
unapologetically
diverse aesthetics; styles collide, form is adopted for its own sake,
and
new ways of viewing familiar styles and space abound.
Postmodern architects include: Philip Johnson (later works), John Burgee, Robert Venturi, Ricardo Boffil, James Stirling and Frank Gehry.
Postmodernism in literature
Main article Postmodern literature
Postmodern literature argues for expansion, the return of reference,
the
celebration of fragmentation rather than the fear of it, and the role
of
reference itself in literature. While drawing on the experimental
tendencies
of authors such as James Joyce and Virginia Woolf in English, and Borges in Spanish, who were taken as
influences
by American postmodern works by authors such as Thomas Pynchon, John Barth, Don Delillo, David Foster Wallace and Paul Auster, the advocates of
post-modern
literature argue that the present is fundamentally different from the
modern
period, and therefore requires a new literary sensibility.
Postmodernism in music
Main article: Postmodern music
Deconstruction
Main article: Deconstruction
Deconstruction is a tool of
postmodernism
that was itself constructed by the philosopher and textual artist Jacques Derrida. His work argues that
all
texts are polysemous (have more than
one
'meaning') and that this can be demonstrated by close textual analysis.
To
'deconstruct' a text, therefore, is to show the internal tensions and
contradictions
within it, as it attempts (and inevitably fails) to provide one
coherent
and singular 'meaning'. Most people use deconstruction simply to mean
the
analysis of the binaries within an idea.
Postmodernism in philosophy
Main article: Postmodern philosophy
Many figures in the 20th century philosophy of mathematics are
identified as
"postmodern" due to their rejection of mathematics as a strictly neutral point
of
view. Some figures in the philosophy of science, especially Thomas Samuel Kuhn and David Bohm, are also so viewed. Some
see the
ultimate expression of postmodernism in science and mathematics in the cognitive science of mathematics, which
seeks
to characterize the habit of mathematics itself as strictly human, and
based
in human cognitive bias.
The term "Neo-liberalism" has been used in
a
theological sense (http://www.adrian.warnock.info/2004/12/why-neo-liberal.htm,)
as a drive to deliberately modify the beliefs and practices of the church (especially evangelical) to conform to post-modernism
Postmodernism and post-structuralism
In terms of frequently cited works, postmodernism and
post-structuralism
overlap quite significantly. Some philosophers, such as Francois
Lyotard,
can legitimately be classified into both groups. This is partly due to
the
fact that both modernism and structuralism owe much to the
Enlightenment
project.
Structuralism has a strong tendency to be scientific in seeking out
stable
patterns in observed phenomena - an epistemological attitude which is
quite
compatible with Enlightenment thinking, and incompatible with
postmodernists.
At the same time, findings from structuralist analysis carried a
somewhat
anti-Enlightenment message, revealing that rationality can be found in
the
minds of 'savage' people, just in forms differing from those that
people
from 'civilized' societies are used to seeing. Implicit here is a
critique
of the practice of colonialism, which was partly justified
as
a 'civilizing' process by which wealthier societies bring knowledge,
manners,
and reason to less 'civilized' ones.
Post-structuralism, emerging as a response to the structuralists'
scientific
orientation, has kept the cultural relativism in structuralism, while discarding the
scientific
orientations.
One clear difference between postmodernism and poststructuralism is
found
in their respective attitudes towards the demise of the project of the
Enlightenment:
post-structuralism is fundamentally ambivalent, while postmodernism is
decidedly celebratory.
Another difference is the nature of the two positions. While
post-structuralism
is a position in philosophy, encompassing views on human beings,
language,
body, society, and many other issues, it is not a name of an era.
Post-modernism,
on the other hand, is closely associated with "post-modern" era, a
period
in the history coming after the modern age.
Postmodernity and digital communications
Technological utopianism is a common trait in Western history - from
the
1700's when Adam Smith essentially labelled
technological
progress as the source of the Wealth of Nations, through the novels of
Jules Verne in the late 1800's, through Winston Churchill's belief that there
was
little an inventor could not achieve. Its manifestation in the
post-modernity
was first through the explosion of analog mass broadcasting of
television.
Strongly associated with the work of Marshall McLuhan who argued that "the
medium
is the message", the ability of mass broadcasting to create visual
symbols
and mass action was seen as a liberating force in human affairs, even
at
the same time others were calling television "a vast wasteland".
The second wave of technological utopianism associated with
post-modern
thought came with the introduction of digital internetworking, and
became
identified with Esther Dyson and such popular outlets
as Wired Magazine. According to this view
digital
communications makes the fragmentation of modern society a positive
feature,
since individuals can seek out those artistic, cultural and community
experiences
which they regard as being correct for themselves.
The common thread is that the fragmentation of society and
communication gives the individual more autonomy to create their own
environment and narrative. This links into the post-modern novel, which
deals with the experience of structuring "truth" from fragments.
Postmodernism and its critics
The term postmodernism is often used pejoratively to
describe tendencies
perceived of as Relativist, Counter-enlightenment or antimodern. Particularly in
relationship
to critiques of Rationalism, Universalism or Science. Sometimes used to describe
tendencies
in the society which are held to be antithetical to traditional systems
of
morality, particularly by Evangelical Christians.
Charles Murray, a strong critic of postmodernism, defines the term:
- "By contemporary intellectual fashion, I am referring to the
constellation
of views that come to mind when one hears the words multicultural,
gender,
deconstruct, politically correct, and Dead White Males. In a broader sense,
contemporary
intellectual fashion encompasses as well the widespread disdain in
certain
circles for technology and the scientific method. Embedded in this
mind-set
is hostility to the idea that discriminating judgments are appropriate
in assessing art and literature, to the idea that hierarchies of value
exist,
hostility to the idea that an objective truth exists. Postmodernism is
the
overarching label that is attached to this perspective." [1]
Though Murray's arguments against postmodernism are far from facile,
critics
have cautioned that Murray's own work in The Bell Curve arrives at racist
conclusions
through research and argumentation that show flagrant disregard for the
very
standards he defends.
One example is the figure of Harold Bloom, who has simultaneously
been
hailed as being against multiculturalism and contemporary
"fads"
in literature, and also placed as an important figure in postmodernism.
If
even the critics cannot keep score as to which side of a supposedly
clear
line figures stand on, the best conclusion that can be drawn is that
conclusions
about membership in the post-modern club are provisional.
Central to the debate is the role of the concept of "objectivity"
and
what it means. In the broadest sense, denial of objectivity is held to
be
the post-modern position, and a hostility towards claims advanced on
the
basis of objectivity its defining feature. It is this underlying
hostility
toward the concept of objectivity, evident in many
contemporary
critical theorists, that is the common
point
of attack for critics of postmodernism. Many critics characterise
postmodernism
as an ephemeral phenomenon that cannot be adequately defined simply
because,
as a philosophy at least, it represents
nothing
more substantial than a series of disparate conjectures allied only in
their
distrust of modernism.
This antipathy of postmodernists towards modernism, and their
consequent
tendency to define themselves against it, has also attracted criticism.
It
has been argued that modernity was not actually a lumbering, totalizing
monolith
at all, but in fact was itself dynamic and ever-changing; the
evolution,
therefore, between 'modern' and 'postmodern' should be seen as one of
degree, rather than of kind - a continuation rather than a 'break'. One
theorist
who takes this view is Marshall Berman,
whose
book All That is Solid Melts into Air (a quote from Marx) reflects in its title the fluid
nature
of 'the experience of modernity'.
As noted above (see History of postmodernism), some
theorists such
as Habermas even argue that the supposed distinction between the
'modern'
and the 'postmodern' does not exist at all, but that the latter is
really
no more than a development within a larger, still-current, 'modern'
framework.
Many who make this argument are left academics with Marxist leanings, such as Terry Eagleton, Fredric Jameson, and David Harvey (social geographer), who are
concerned
that postmodernism's undermining of Enlightenment values makes a
progressive
cultural politics difficult, if not impossible. How can we effect any
change
in people's poor living conditions, in inequality and injustice, if we
don't
accept the validity of underlying universals such as the 'real world'
and
'justice' in the first place? How is any progress to be made through a
philosophy
so profoundly skeptical of the very notion of progress, and of unified
perspectives?
The critics charge that the postmodern vision of a tolerant, pluralist
society
in which every political ideology is perceived to be as valid, or as
redundant,
as the other; may ultimately encourage individuals to lead lives of a
rather
disastrous apathetic quietism. This reasoning leads Habermas to compare
postmodernism
with conservatism and the preservation of the status quo.
Such critics often argue that, in actual fact, such postmodern
premises
are rarely, if ever, actually embraced — that if they were, we would be
left
with nothing more than a crippling radical subjectivism. That the projects of the
Enlightenment
and modernity are alive and well can be seen in the justice system, in
science,
in political rights movements, in the very idea of universities; and so
on.
To some critics, there seems, indeed, to be a glaring contradiction
in
maintaining the death of objectivity and privileged position on one
hand,
while the scientific community continues a project of unprecedented
scope
to unify various scientific disciplines into a theory of everything, on the other.
Hostility
toward hierarchies of value and objectivity
becomes
similarly problematic when postmodernity itself attempts to analyse
such
hierarchies with, apparently, some measure of objectivity and make
categorical
statements concerning them.
Such critics see postmodernism as, essentially, a kind of semantic
gamesmanship,
more sophistry than substance. Postmodernism's proponents are often
criticised
for a tendency to indulge in exhausting, verbose stretches of
rhetorical gymnastics,
which critics feel sound important but are ultimately meaningless.
(Some
postmodernists may argue that this is precisely the point.) In the Sokal Affair, Alan Sokal, a physicist, wrote a
deliberately
nonsensical article purportedly about interpreting physics and
mathematics
in terms of postmodern theory, which was nevertheless published by the
Left-leaning
Social Text, a journal which he and
most
of the scientific community considered as postmodernist. Notable among
Sokal's
false arguments published in Social Text was that the value of π changed over time and that the
strength
of Earth's gravity was relative to the observer. Sokal claimed this
highlighted
the postmodern tendency to value rhetoric and verbal gamesmanship over
serious
meaning. Sokal also co-wrote Fashionable Nonsense, which
criticizes
the inaccurate use of scientific terminology in intellectual writing and finishes with
a
critique of some forms of postmodernism. Ironically, postmodern literature often
self-consciously
plays on the format and structure of scientific
writing, emphasizing
the distinction between the complex content of the world and its
understanding
in written form. To borrow a phrase from René Magritte, some postmodern
literature
and art says "This is not a pipe", pointing out that
the
form of technical writing is not necessarily connected to its content.
The Sokal affair also generated political controversy, with
conservative
pundits parading it as proof of the irrelevance of the academic left,
while
leftists criticized Sokal of serving a conservative agenda. Sokal,
meanwhile,
identified himself as an "unabashed Old Leftist."
Some critics feel that postmodernism is so strongly linked to
politics
that it does not qualify as a philosophy. These critics claim that,
inasmuch
as many postmodernist arguments rely on charges of racism and ethnocentrism in traditional Western
science,
it is little more than an attempt by postmodernists to impose their own
political
agenda on the sciences. Meanwhile, other critics claim that
postmodernism
is nothing but a new trend of solipsism, and a complete withdrawal
from
the political sphere.
Whatever its philosophical value, postmodern phenomena can be
observed
in nearly all areas of Western capitalist cultures, and a postmodern
theoretical
approach can help explain much of this cultural condition, irrespective
of
whether it offers a coherent, functional epistemology.
Further reading
- Berman, Marshall All That Is Solid Melts Into Air: The
Experience
of Modernity (ISBN 0140109625)
- Harvey, David The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into
the
Origins of Cultural Change (ISBN 0631162941)
- Jameson, Fredric Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of
Late Capitalism
(ISBN 0822310902)
- Lyotard, Jean-Francois The Postmodern Condition: A Report on
Knowledge
(ISBN 0816611734)
- Sokal, Alan and Jean Bricmont Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern
Intellectuals'
Abuse of Science (ISBN 0312204078)
See also
Postmodern art
-
Theoretical postmodernism
neo-romanticism
(Disambiguation: you may be looking for Neoromanticism (music) or New Romantic (British pop music))
The term neo-romanticism is synonymous with post-Romanticism
or
late Romanticism. It is a long-lived
movement
in the arts and literature.
It is considered to be a reaction to naturalism. The naturalist in art
stresses
external observation, whereas the neo-romanticist adds feeling and
internal
observation. These artists tend to draw their inspiration from artists
of
the age of high romanticism, and from the sense
of
place they perceive in historic rural landscapes; and in this
they
react in general to the 'ugly' modern world of machines, new cities,
and
profit. Characteristic themes include longing for perfect love, utopian
landscapes,
nature reclaiming ruins, romantic death, and history-in-landscape.
Neo-romanticism
is often accused by critics of being too insular, too interested in figurative painting and beauty, too fond of intuition, too distrustful of
ideological
& theoretical ways of comprehending art, and too in love with the
past
and the idealised / spiritual / haunted landscape. A more persuasive
criticism
is that neo-romanticism lacks an adequate conception of evil in the
modern
world.
Neo-romanticism tended to shed somewhat the emphasis of Romanticism on 'the hero' and romantic nationalism. This was particularly so
in
the decades after both of the world wars
-
Cultural and political postmodernism
-
External links
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