What Is Postmodernism?
May 18th, 2009 by Micah Tillman | Start the Discussion |
[ What Is Modernism? | Examples | What Is Postmodernism? | Examples ]
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Postmodernism is the belief that modernism has itself been undercut.
Where each modernist tried to undercut some particular oppressive authority by appealing to some more primary authority, a postmodernist believes the entire modernist program — however she or he defines it — has itself been undercut.
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A postmodernist, therefore, believes that there is something prior to modernism, (after all, a thing can only be undercut by appealing to something that has priority over it).
Modernism is secondary or symptomatic; it is a product or effect (affectation) rather than the ultimate.
However, this doesn’t mean that a postmodernist thinks she or he has finally tracked down (nailed down, tied down) what is truly prior, as we shall see.
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A postmodernist, seeing that every new modernist gives the “wheel” another turn, undercutting what her or his forebears had set up as the truly prior, fears a similar fate.
Thus, a postmodernist tries to beat all his or her potential critics to the punch, by choosing as his or her “priority” something that undercuts itself, something that is prior to itself.
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Postmodernism, therefore, is the declaration that the (truly) prior is (always) prior (even to itself) (and, consequently, never is what you think it is).
While every modernist gave the “wheel” one spin — and then started to build — a postmodernist selects a priority that keeps the “wheel” continually spinning.
While modernism was a one-time spinning of the wheel (by each new modernist), postmodernism is the development of and devotion to wheels that spin themselves.
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Postmodernism, therefore, is an expression of the fear of taking stands, lest one have one’s legs cut out from under one.
It is a manifestation of the refusal to take any but automotive stands — stands that, by their very nature, move themselves (are always in a different place than you think they are).
In short, postmodernism is an expression of an understandable fear of responsibility or originality (of being the origin or source or center of anything, any action) — of being tied down, singled out, identified, and made vulnerable.
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[ What Is Modernism? | Examples | What Is Postmodernism? | Examples ]
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