Its relating to art, architecture, or literature that reacts against earlier modernist principles, as by reintroducing traditional or classical elements of style or by carrying modernist styles or practices to extremes. The nature and description of postmodernism (pomo) has changed over past decades as the movement has developed. Scholars dedicated to the subject generally do not agree on much except the politicalization of all aspects of human thought, science, and art, and a unrelenting attack on modernism. Differing concepts have been proposed in deconstructionist theory (Derrida, Lacan), politics (Foucault), social theory (Baudrillard), architecture (Jencks), literature (Barthes), philosophy (Rorty), etc. Many of these theories are European in origin but reflect on what is basically an American phenomenon. The result has been a mishmash of deconstructionist verbiage that is barely comprehensible, even to those who are considered be postmodern practitioners. Here I intend only to outline contrasts between modernism and pomo.
Pomos claim a paradigm shift seeded by two potent factors: 1. a disenchantment with the Enlightenment and the "hegemony" of rationalism, and 2. an emerging global culture. Pomo science is socially constructed, subjective rather than objective. Logic and rational thought are attacked by pomos, who believe in incoherence and indeterminacy. Logic is replaced with political, quasi-religious rhetoric, e.g., in the New Age movement, a revival of interest in astrology, ESP, etc. Pomos believe that progress is an illusion, i.e., that there is no such thing as progress -- therefore it is nonprogressive. There is no ideal utopian society, which is also a modern illusion.
Although multiculturalism helped to spawn pomo, the former resists homogenization and tries to preserve the integrity of indigenous cultures, while the latter views homogenization and eclecticism as natural and desirable. There are also inconsistencies of the actual practice of pomo with its own theories, e.g., pomo architecture compared with the ideas of Lacan or Barthes.
Pomo arose from a misinterpretation of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche, the American leftist social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and upon a politico-philosophical tract espoused in a book by Thomas Kuhn, entitled The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, Chicago: 1970. Pomo embraces the eclectic, and carries the banner of "multiculturalism", "feminism", "deconstructionism", and a host of other "isms". Pomos espouse populism, but write political tracts that few can understand (incoherence and convoluted jargon are pomo virtues). Even when they claim to understand, the same writing doesn't mean the same thing to different pomos, but this is regarded as a virtue.
To pomo nothing is any better than anything else. Thus, the ideal pomo is suspicious or even intolerant of truths and values unless they are considered local, relative social constructions (unique to the tribe that invents rather than discovers them), and believes that values about art are purely subjective and individualized -- there are no such things as masterpieces. Pomos like to attack modernists for their belief in objective truth and value. Pop culture and commercialism is elevated to the same level as high art by pomos. Donne is just as good as Shakespeare. Rap music is as good as classical. Pomo is anti-formal and denies any autonomy to music and art. Everything is political to pomos.
Although pomos have successfully entrenched themselves in the humanities and social sciences in presitigious academic institutions as "tenured radicals," they have only recently tried to impose their political ideology upon hard-core sciences. One result has been an amusing scandal in which a New York University physicist, Alan Sokal, submitted a paper titled "Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity", for publication in the reknowned pomo journal, Social Text. The paper was a deliberate hoax, a joke constructed with pomo jargon, but filled with pretentious nonsense on a theory that gravity doesn't exist, or rather exists only in the minds of those who believe it's there. Nevertheless, it was accepted as a serious contribution by the editors and published in the journal in June 1996. Even more astonishing were the subsequent reactions and justifications raised by prominent pomos. A history of this scandal, including the original essay by Sokal, is available in the book The Sokal Hoax, the Sham that Shook the Academy edited by Lingua Franca (University of Nebraska Press, 2000).
The following chart contrasts modernist philosophy with pomo, but any such chart is bound to be an oversimplified generalization. Nevertheless, generalizations and distinctions are necessary and useful.
1Modern, 2Postmodern
1rational
2irrational
1scientific
2anti-scientific or unscientific
1utopian, elitist, belief in universal values
2populist claim, local values only
1democratic
2feminist and minority hegemony
1hierarchical
2anarchical
1organized
2non-totalized, chaotic, fragmented
1centered
2dispersed
1European, Western
2"multicultural"
1generalizing
2non-generalizing
1determinate
2indeterminate
1objective
2subjective
1objectivist values, masterpieces
2values determined socially and individually
1formal disciplines
2informal, undisciplined
1purposeful, meaningful
2meaningless or purely subjective meaning
1construction
2destruction (pomos prefer the euphemism "deconstruction")
1belief in progress
2no progress possible
1theoretical
2concrete, non-theorizing
1analytical & synthetic
2non-analytical, rhetorical, based on belief
1simplicity, elegance, spartan, streamlined
2decoration, elaboration, convoluted, evasive
1logical, scientific
2illogical, superstitious, opinion based
1cause-effect
2chance
1linear
2haphazard, "nonlinear"
1harmonious, integrated
2non-integrated
1permanence
2transience
1abstract
2concrete
1communicative, prefer to be understood
2prefer to be arcane
1unified, coherent
2eclectic, incoherent
1objective truth
2truth is socially constructed
1apolitical to occasionally political
2politicizes everything
1disciplines primarily indifferent to power struggles
2political power is of primary concern
1reality is not anthropocentric
2reality is socially constructed and anthropocentric
