Postmodernism An allergic reaction to modernity

1
Postmodernism - An allergic reaction to modernity

• What characterizes postmodernism?
• It is a reaction against
• Modernity and the scientifically based worldview,
  including a skepticism about
• Technology
• Objectivity (no standard of objective truth)
• Absolutes and total explanations

2
Postmodernism

• In reacting against modernity, postmodernism
  emphasizes the following
• Image and appearance
• Private or communal interpretations of reality
• Pleasure and indulgence
• An eclectic attitude toward both spiritual and
  material perspectives.

3
An uneasy relationship

• Postmodernism cannot be understood apart from
  both the successes and failures of modernism.
• In some important respects, postmodernism seems
  to be an acceleration of modernism.
• In other ways, postmodernism recognizes the
  failure of modernity to give adequate meaning to
  life and the world.

4
Postmodern Themes

• The importance of media and technology
• Skepticism and cynicism A cynic, said
  playwright Oscar Wilde, is someone who knows
  the price of everything and the value of
  nothing.
• Reality and truth? What seems to be the case is
  the case.
• Rejection of meta-narratives. Preference for
  local interpretations of meaning.

5
Postmodern Themes, cont.

• Nostalgia and kitsch
• Eclectic mixes of spirituality and materialism.
• Pragmatism and Hedonism
• Rejection of absolutes
• The flexibility of language
• Communitarianism