27/6/13
I have some good news—kick back, relax, enjoy the rest of the summer, stop worrying about where your life is and isn’t heading. What news? Well, on 24th September, we can officially and definitively declare that postmodernism is dead. Finished. History. A difficult period in human thought over and done with. How do I know this? Because that is the date when the Victoria and Albert Museum opens what it calls “the first comprehensive retrospective” in the world: “Postmodernism—Style and Subversion 1970-1990.”
Wait, I hear you cry. How do they know? And what was it? Postmodernism—I didn’t understand it. I never understood it. How can it be over?
You are not alone. If there’s one word that confuses, upsets, angers, beleaguers, exhausts and contaminates us all, then it is postmodernism. And yet, properly understood, postmodernism is playful, intelligent, funny and fascinating. From Grace Jones to Lady Gaga, from Andy Warhol to Gilbert and George, from Paul Auster to David Foster Wallace, its influence has been everywhere and continues. It has been the dominant idea of our age.
I found this post on the internet rather interesting as I am new to post-modernism and don't quite get it yet, so hearing that it was dead came to a surprise to me as I don't really know what exactly is dead? However this has helped me to understand it a bit more.
INTRODUCTION TO POSTMODERNISM 9/9/13
INTRODUCTION TO POSTMODERNISM 9/9/13
Somewhere in the twentieth century, a reaction to modernism set in. Some say it began when WW I destroyed the optimism of the day. That reaction has been called - not very creatively it seems - "postmodernism."
Postmodernism is not a very well-defined school of thought. It is more of a cover-term for those who have tried to abandon or go beyond modernism. One should be very careful when using the term "postmodern" because it is used to mean so many things that it sometimes comes close to meaning nothing at all. However, there are some emphases that seem to have found a home under this umbrella term.
Some contend that postmodernism is more accurately seen as a kind of "hyper-modernism." What they mean by this is that many some of the later developments of modernism - especially things like cognitive and moral relativism - are key aspects of postmodern thought. In this sense, postmodernism is nothing new. There do seem to be at least some emphases in postmodernism that go beyond even the later developments of modernism.
7th October:
Characteristics of Postmodernism: there is no absolute truth:
One of the most prevalent characteristics of postmodernism is the idea that there is no and can never be any kind of absolute truth. Truth cannot be known in the context of postmodernist thinking, and those who claim to know truth are either lying or foolish.
2. Characteristics of Postmodernism: facts and falsehoods are interchangeable
Because one of the characteristics of postmodernism is that there is no absolute truth, a natural outgrowth of this thinking is that facts and falsehoods are interchangeable. What is accepted as truth today could easily be proven wrong tomorrow, and vice versa.
3. Characteristics of Postmodernism: frustrated with modern thinking
Postmoderns are typically very frustrated with the modern generation’s inability to deliver on their promises of peace, advancement, and knowledge. The modern generation’s failure to accomplish their goals has caused postmoderns to harbor a great deal of distrust in the ideals of moderns.
4. Characteristics of Postmodernism: rationalization is the norm
Because of the scientific method’s shortcomings in resolving the problems of the world, postmoderns’ distrust of what is presented as fact has led them to embrace opinion as the driving force of thought. One of the primary characteristics of postmodernism is therefore that if a person can rationalize their understanding or opinion, it is worthwhile and as true as is possible for the postmodern thinker.
5. Characteristics of Postmodernism: global community more important than nationalism
Rationalization, frustration, and the thinking that there is no truth beyond personal and corporate opinion has resulted in the postmodern tendency toward the belief that the global good is more important than national interests.
7th October:
Characteristics of Postmodernism: there is no absolute truth:
One of the most prevalent characteristics of postmodernism is the idea that there is no and can never be any kind of absolute truth. Truth cannot be known in the context of postmodernist thinking, and those who claim to know truth are either lying or foolish.
2. Characteristics of Postmodernism: facts and falsehoods are interchangeable
Because one of the characteristics of postmodernism is that there is no absolute truth, a natural outgrowth of this thinking is that facts and falsehoods are interchangeable. What is accepted as truth today could easily be proven wrong tomorrow, and vice versa.
3. Characteristics of Postmodernism: frustrated with modern thinking
Postmoderns are typically very frustrated with the modern generation’s inability to deliver on their promises of peace, advancement, and knowledge. The modern generation’s failure to accomplish their goals has caused postmoderns to harbor a great deal of distrust in the ideals of moderns.
4. Characteristics of Postmodernism: rationalization is the norm
Because of the scientific method’s shortcomings in resolving the problems of the world, postmoderns’ distrust of what is presented as fact has led them to embrace opinion as the driving force of thought. One of the primary characteristics of postmodernism is therefore that if a person can rationalize their understanding or opinion, it is worthwhile and as true as is possible for the postmodern thinker.
5. Characteristics of Postmodernism: global community more important than nationalism
Rationalization, frustration, and the thinking that there is no truth beyond personal and corporate opinion has resulted in the postmodern tendency toward the belief that the global good is more important than national interests.
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