Postmodernism

The first character that comes to mind (and probably the most "postmodern" of all literary heroes) is Slothrop from Thomas Pynchon's Gravity's Rainbow. This is a touchstone novel in the postmodern...

Postmodern literature is characterized by suspicion, skepticism, and rejection of many of the theories and values of Modernism. With Postmodernism, therefore, there is fragmentation and multiple,...

The term "metanarrative" is usually used to refer to a large organizing principle for understanding development, especially historical development. Postmodernists, and many other modern scholars...

We have to realize that were we to go to another planet, we would describe that planet with our own terminology and according to our own experience. Whether or not our observations were...

Irony has lost both its humor and its drive to correct social wrongs in Postmodernist literature, so the ironic tone that might amuse in Austen's Pride and Prejudice becomes a biting, humorless...

Postmodernist literature is often challenging to read and subsequently analyze due to not only its scope but also because of its manipulation of older tropes and writing techniques. There is an...

I know that the following answer is a cop-out, but I think it needs to be said. "Modern" simply refers to what's going on now. Whatever trends there might be now in art, literature, philosophy,...

Postmodernism refers to a period in history (roughly 1945-present) and also an artistic movement with particular themes and styles. Postmodernism is a reaction against Modernist themes and...

The question of identity, in particular sexual identity and status as the other is a major theme in this story.When Lionel gives in to his homosexual desires with Cocoanut, he is forever changed....

It will be hard to speak of "the" postmodern view of gender. There are many differences of opinion. However, there are a few principles of postmodernism that are important to consider when you are...

This is a great question. It is important to start with a definition of postmodernism. Perhaps the best way to look at postmodernism is the lack of a grand narrative that encompasses all knowledge....

Postmodern poets employ (and experiment with) some especially noticeable and characteristic techniques that make their poetic efforts both interesting and unique. Let's look at some of these....

One example of the influence of postmodernism on people's thought would be the rise of cultural relativism. Postmodernists tend to question whether there is a single set of assumptions or norms...

I had to pare down the question because I think that both Spiegelman's work and McLuhan's work represents postmodern thought in separate ways. At the same time, this is not going to be easy...

Structuralism as method of study in fields such as anthropology, biology and sociology relies on relating aspects of a culture or system to a larger, more universal structure. It is most often...

Postmodern poets deal with the divided postwar identity through the use of techniques like fragmented structures and paradoxes. By breaking traditional rules of structure, postmodern poets...

Postmodernism refers both to a set of philosophical and aesthetic theories and also to the culture and works that seem most to exemplify these theories. While there are several different flavours...

Postmodernism, as the name suggests, is a reaction against modernism, defining itself as something opposing and superseding the previous movement. Modernism was the response of various artists to...

One feature that can be found in a postmodern literary work is an elusive reality. For postmodernists, reality is neither universal nor objective. What constitutes reality is one’s individual...

There are a few different ways you can relate Freudian psychology to postmodernism.First, you could do a Freudian critique of postmodern theory, arguing for its denial of the author as some form of...

This is a huge question and an answer here can only begin to scratch the surface. But let's give it a shot. First, postmoderns question the ability of language to convey anything more than a...

I don't really think that there will be much in way of Postmodern criticism on the part of feminist theory. I think this because Postmodernism envelops and covers feminist criticism. Feminist...

Postmodernism is a period in history which began after the Second World War; postmodern literature is usually characterized as a specific writing style in which the author uses various narrative...

Wow! That's a question!Let's start with an understanding of Postmodernism. The term has been applied to much contemporary writing, particularly with reference to the use of experimental forms....

Deconstruction theories like Postmodernism and Poststructuralism represent the "logics of disintegration" because they believe that the structural understandings of truth are fundamentally flawed....

We must first note that the postmodern era outlined here saw the publication of many works of literature and film that were not postmodern in style, intent or theme. Romanticism, modernism, and...

Post-modernism can be seen as a stylistic movement in the arts, often specifically associated with literature. Post-structuralism can be seen as a loosely parallel movement in critical theory of...

The original question had to be edited. I think that one can find many examples of post World War II social movements that emphasized change and empowerment and were representative of Postmodern...

I would say that the answer to whether or not homosexuality can be considered a metanarrative is no. I think it is a narrative in the sense that, like feminism, queer theory attempts to unearth...

Modernism is very much from the print era with its hierarchical, rational, centered, and scientific structure. It's from the democratic era of print in which authors used deductive theses to prove...

I couldn't disagree more. Post-modernism moves past the limitations of realism, seeking to utter the ineffable, to express those elements of human existence beyond measurability, beyond the...

First, the term implies that it came after modernism, which is not quite accurate. Second, usually these terms are invented after the fact by critics, but this term was incorporated into the...

The Frankfurt School was composed of a group of social theorists who originally all worked together in Frankfurt, Germany, but who then moved to the United States in response to the rise of the...

There might be a couple of issues that need to be addressed here. The first would be the initial assumption that Postmodern dominance was "unquestioned." I don't see Postmodernism as ever having...

Postmodernism can be a very complex business, and I cannot hope to do justice to it here. However, I can at least identify one or two salient features that will help distinguish it from its...

There is a tendency to view “deconstructionism” as some sort of non-logical, random assault on reason and logic. It is not. Postmodernism (of which deconstruction is one element) pays attention...

Postmodernism (sometimes spelled "post-modernism") was a late-twentieth century cultural movement that pushed back against some of the assumptions made by Modernism, which came just before it. In...

Postmodernism in literature, as one can imagine by its name, deals with literature after the "modern" literary period. Whereas the modern era concentrated on what was occurring during the...

Postmodernism was the major international movement in several branches of the humanities and social science in the second half of the twentieth century and thus is important as a component of your...

Postmodernism is one of the most influential intellectual movements of the twentieth century. It affects many different disciplines of the social sciences and the humanities, in both Europe and the...

The answer to this question depends greatly on your own point of view and how you read what is happening in culture. I guess the one problem with any post-postmodern philosophy or thought emerging...

Concerning modernism and postmodernism, I'll deal with two mistaken notions in your thinking that your question reveals. These notions are fundamental to any genuine understanding of an answer to...

1. Jean Baudrillard is a postmodern critic noted mostly for his stance that culture has overtaken nature. We tend to consider that something exists in the world and then we come up with a word for...

As is often the case when one sets out to define literary eras, the answer as to what—if anything—followed postmodernism is still being debated. Indeed, it can be difficult to pinpoint a precise...

There will be many potential answers to this question. In typical postmodern fashion, I am not entirely certain that one can identify a specific contextual condition. Infact, being able to...

Please allow me to add: postmodernism is misnamed, because it sounds like it came after Modernism. Actually it is a part of Modernism, that part dealing with form rather than content. Modernism...