We explain what postmodernism is and what its general characteristics are. Also, what postmodern society and its architecture are like.
What is postmodernism?
Postmodernism is a philosophical, cultural and artistic movement that emerged at the end of the 20th century as a reaction to the intellectual and philosophical ideas of modernity. It gets its name from having succeeded modernism as a philosophical current.
postmodernism opposes the idea of a natural realityobjective and independent of the human being and maintains that this idea is based on naive realism. He stands out for his skepticism or rejection of the current of “enlightened reason.”
Jean-François Lyotard (1924-1998), in The postmodern conditionanalyzes postmodern culture as the end of metanarratives or “grand narratives”, the main characteristic of modernity. Examples of these are reductionism and teleological interpretations of Marxism and the Enlightenment, among others.
Instead of denying the identity of what is known until now, postmodernism is based on the concept of “difference” as a productive mechanism. He maintains that thinking (and what compels humans to act) is a matter of sensitivity rather than reason.
See also: Epistemology
Characteristics of postmodernism
The postmodernist movement was characterized by considering that:
- Modern Western philosophy creates dualisms. Postmodernism maintains a hybrid or pluralist position regarding reality.
- Truth is a matter of perspective or context, rather than something universal or absolute. This idea arises from Nietzschean perspectivism: Nietzsche states that “there are no facts but interpretations.”
- Language shapes the way of thinking and there cannot be thought without language. Authors like Derrida work with this idea.
- Language is capable of literally creating reality. Austin's performativity elaborates a theory in this regard.
postmodern philosophy
postmodern philosophy part of the idea of overcoming modernity. Although it is difficult to find an origin of postmodernism, its beginning is usually located in the 1960s, in France. Most postmodern thinkers are also post-Nietzschean: Derrida, Lyotard, Foucault, Baudrillard, Deleuze, Guattari, Nancy, Barthes and Lacan, among others.
This overcoming of modernity is born as a rejection or distancing from the characteristic ideals of the previous era. Many of its authors work from existentialismdeconstruction, posthumanism and contemporary literary theory. All of them break with the primacy that modernity gave to the subject and reason.
Some central ideas of philosophical postmodernism are Derridean logocentrism, binary dichotomy and power relations. Works like The words and the things of Foucault, From grammatology of Derrida, or The anti-oedipus by Deleuze and Guattari, work from these ideas.
Regarding the difference conceptdifferent authors adopt similar positions but not entirely reconcilable with each other.
- In Derrida's case, there is the concept of différance or “difference”, which is the superposition of differing simultaneously with differentiating. This concept first appears in his 1967 book, From grammatologywhich works on language and writing not as a sign but as gramma or “differentiated” registration.
- Deleuze also works on Bergsonian multiplicity as a form of difference.
- For his part, Foucault works at the episteme as a singularity modified by the exercise of power.
- In the case of Lyotard, the term coined is “dispute”, determining that it is no longer possible to legitimize the historical truth claims of the different Western philosophical systems.
postmodern art
postmodernism It is characterized by breaking with the established rules about art and for ushering in a new era of freedom in which “anything goes.” It is an anti-authoritarian current by nature because it refuses to recognize the influence of any style.
The postmodernist movement, in order to challenge the limits of collective taste, is shown in a funny, ironic and even ridiculous tone. It has an anti-dualist stance that opposes classic opposition preconceptions such as east and west, man and woman, rich and poor or black and white.
Some examples of postmodern art are minimalism, conceptual art, land-art, the happening and the interventions. All of them affirm that there is a failure of avant-garde art. They maintain that the avant-garde is nothing more than a failed response to the established canon: once they make their criticism and mark their artistic difference with respect to the canon, they end up entering it.
postmodern architecture
postmodern architecture stands out for being of an indefinite typewithout opposing any of the known styles, even when it manages to differentiate itself from them. He replaced modern aesthetics (without ornamentation and right angles) with irregular lines and unusual surfaces.
Some examples of postmodern architecture are: the State Gallery in Stuttgart (in Germany), the Piazza d'Italia public square in New Orleans (in the United States) and the Scottish Parliament Building in Holyrood (in Scotland).
Modernist architects often consider postmodern buildings as vulgar. or with a populist ethic. On the contrary, postmodern architects may consider the works of modernity as soulless and too bland facades.
postmodern literature
postmodern literature It is characterized by an ideology and a style that appeal to fragmentationdiversity, paradox, little-known narrators, parody and “black humor.” Rejects the distinction between genres and forms of writing.
The literature of the 1990s in Latin America experienced a trend towards postmodernism. Among some of its most notable exponents are Ricardo Piglia, Diamela Eltit, Rafael Humberto Moreno-Durán, José Balza and José Emilio Pacheco.
Postmodern authors They are identified by drawing a diffuse boundary between fictional speeches and essays.: They write fictions about literature and essays in fiction mode.
postmodern society
During the development of postmodern society We moved from a production economy to a consumption economyeven to compulsive consumerism that caused harmful consequences that can be seen today.
To counteract the negative consequences, postmodernism began to question environmental disasters caused by the overexploitation of natural resources and the amount of toxic waste generated. He proposed a revaluation of planet Earth and raising awareness for its care.
Criticisms of postmodernism
In all the fields in which postmodernism develops resistance and rejection have appeared to the general ideas that it raises. Whether in architecture, art or literature, generations of artists, writers and thinkers maintain that postmodernism is the symptom of a society in decline whose support has been lost over time.
One of the most famous examples is the book written by physicists Alan Sokal and Jean Bricmont, Fashionable nonsense: The abuse of science by modern intellectuals. There they reveal the relativism to which postmodernism is subject. They criticize both the use of scientific concepts by philosophers and the use of non-communicative language by some authors, such as Derrida or Heidegger, who usually write their works with non-predicative language or released into playful exercise as a display of thought.
The philosophers and thinkers most criticized by Sokal and Bricmont are Jacques Lacan, Julia Kristeva, Gilles Deleuze, Bruno Latour and Jean Baudrillard.
Continue with: Rationalism
References
- Ballesteros, J. (1989). Postmodernity: decadence or resistance. Technos.
- Baudrillard, J., Habermas, J., Said, E. and others. (2000). postmodernity. Kairos
- Lyotard, J.-F. (2008). The postmodern condition: Report on knowledge. Chair.
- “Postmodernism” in Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- “Postmodernism” in Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
- “Postmodernism” in Literary Theory and Criticism.