What is postmodernism
In trying to define exactly what post-modernism is I shall firstly briefly consider some of the events and thinking that led up to the development of this particular school of social theory. I shall then consider some of the common strands of thinking in postmodernism concentrating mainly on the writings of Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard. I shall then consider the view of David Harvey, a Marxist many consider to be writing in the postmodern tradition, who argues that post-modernism is just another form of capitalism. Having analysed his argument I shall conclude by giving my own personal view of post-modernism and by showing that by its very nature it is virtually impossible to come up with one single all encompassing definition.The term postmodernism was first used in relation to architecture. Modern architecture, namely the high rise tower blocks of the sixties, were becoming more and more unpopular. Charles Jencks (1977) traces the death of modernist architecture to the demolition of the Pruitt-Igoe housing project in St. Louis, and other writers (Lemert (1990)) have seen this as a symbol of the end of modernity. Society was reacting against modern architectural ideas having lost faith in the modern ideals.
Similarly in Sociology postmodernism rejects the theories of the past, and represents a break from the "modern" way of thinking. For example, Marx envisaged society evolving through social change into the "perfect" communist society, where there are no issues of class or general inequality. Postmodernists would refer to his theory, and those of other sociologists, as a metanarrative and writers such as Lyotard (1984) have seen the rejection of such theories as central to postmodernism: "There is nothing like a unified 'post-modern social theory'...there is a plurality of different post-modern theories and positions" Lyotard, J.F. (1984) The Postmodern Condition. Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press Mizrach, S. Talking pomo: An analysis of the postmodern movement http://glidare.isp.his.se/isp/~andreas/pomo.htm
Some common words found in the essay are:
Maybe Lyotard's, Similarly Sociology, David Harvey, Sunny Delight, Whilst Lyotard, Kong Sociology, Capitalism Harvey, Lyotard Lyotard, Bill Gates, Russia China, ritzer 1992, mcgraw-hill inc, edition york, edition york mcgraw-hill, york mcgraw-hill inc, york mcgraw-hill, sociological theory third, sociological theory, lost faith, theory third, third edition york, post-modern society, theory third edition, third edition, post-modern era,
Approximate Word count = 2438
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page double spaced)
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