Postmodernism refers to a break from modernity and the Enlightenment ideals of progress, rationality, and absolute truth. It emerged in the late 20th century across various disciplines and has proliferated into multiple, sometimes incompatible meanings. Key themes of postmodernity include questioning how culture, identity, and meaning are constructed; skepticism of grand narratives and universal ideals; and recognizing the influence of technology and media on society. While there is no single definition, postmodernism broadly critiques modernity and proposes new ways of understanding the world that acknowledge uncertainty and temporary meanings over absolute truths.

1. Church
Contexts
Post-Modernity

2. Introduction
Some prehistorical sightings of word in 1870 inwards, but mostly
used in 1980’s
Becomes catch all term for anything
Art world word forgetting about it going beyond
But in humanities it’s integrated into all areas of study in western
world.
It has become part of everyday speech

3. Multiple Meanings
We can say Freud began psychoanalysis, and detect schools of
thought
We cannot do same with postmodernism, no founder, or school
Multiple disciplines have defined and used the term in multiple
ways
Postmodernism has proliferated in meaning

4. Multiple Meanings
Incompatible meanings between disciplines and definitions is part
of the nature of postmodernism
Used in popular culture as vague term for anything
contemporary and ironic, or as general name for moment in
history
Meaning argued over in literary criticism, one major discipline
particularly concerned with post-modernism

5. Distinction
Postmodernism as social and economic, or cultural
Both inform the others, but have different focus
Technically postmodernism refers to cultural aspect, whilst post-
modernity refers to social conditions
Lots of writers now use postmodernism to refer to both!

6. Some Common Themes
Used as term by people in elite way, for intellectualism, but is
valid in others ways
There are some identifiable themes in the multiple strands and
meanings
1. Culture: Societies culture and lifestyle has changed
significantly from 100, 50 or even 30 years ago
2. Concrete: develop of real things like IT, mass media, consumer
culture etc

7. Some Common Themes
3. Abstract: that the development of these things has affect how
we understand meaning, identity and reality
4. Analysis: That the old ways of analyzing and understanding
don’t work in our new context and we need new approaches,
and new vocabularies for the present
How can we be after modern? We still have ongoing
modernisation.

8. Modernity and Enlightenment
Post modern critics see modernity as a project of enlightenment
with key elements (despite the various versions of modernity!)
These themes of modernity are often:
Progress, optimism, rationality, search for absolute truth,
knowledge of true self
Key modern thinkers: Kant, Hegel,Voltaire

9. Modernity and Enlightenment
European arrogance in seeing themselves as enlightened and need
to take to others: colonialism
Post-modernism description of break from these and active
critique:
Exhaustion, pessimism, irrationality, disillusionment from idea of
absolute knowledge.
Umberto Eco: argued return to medieval thinking

10. Modernity and Enlightenment
Broad themes of post-modernity:
1. Erosion of distinction between high and low
2. Domination of the visual
3. Questioning of meaning and how signs communicate
4. Definitions of being human and identity change
(anthropology)
5. Skepticism of meta-narratives, of people’s stories and ideas
of progress

11. Modernity and Modernisation
Modernity connected to modernisation, and modernisation is
ongoing aspect of current western rest of world!
Some version of post-modernity are a break with modernity,
some are extension, some are both
No clean break between modernity and post modernity just no
such thing with modern and medieval
Time and looking back with allow us to clarify better maybe!

12. Conclusion
Postmodernism is largely the negative, and
apophatic
No clear definition
Continuation and break with modernity
Culture and social conditions
Some argue we can label things as postmodern.

13. Conclusion
Others argue we can’t, in that we bring our ideas to it, but don’t
define and discover a quality in it (and that is a postmodern
understanding of meaning in that process!)
In other words it’s nature is to defy definition.
Best understood as an elastic critical category with a range of
applications, and potential understandings.

14. Conclusion
If post-modernity is death/end/break most common we’ll see are:
1. End of history: skepticism to idea of progress, and unity of
events in history. (progress enlightenment project)
2. End of Man: post-human construction with technology,
society has made our anthropology and this is changing. ( self
agency/anthropology)
3. Death of real: abandonment of pursuit of absolute truth, and
preference for temporary, superficial, artifice, and how signs
relate to reality (meaning)