Postmodernism is a broad term used to describe movements across various fields such as art, philosophy, culture, and music. There is no single definition, as it questions established knowledge and beliefs. Postmodernists like to challenge audiences and societal norms. The term was first used in the 1870s in relation to painting styles, and was later applied to changes in religion and new forms of art and music that rejected modern architecture. Jean-Francois Lyotard analyzed postmodernity's impact on identity and culture, arguing that television has altered people's attention spans and consumerism now defines identity. Postmodern art blends high and low forms, historical styles with modern elements like fashion in a way that rejects boundaries.

1. What is post modernism?
Postmodernism is the term that is broadly used to express the movement over a period of
time in a range of areas such as art, philosophy, culture and also music. There is no specific
definition for postmodernism, with the term being quite ambiguous when describing the
variety of areas. The phrase is often classed as being a sceptic’s term, with constant
questioning and doubt of any knowledge, opinions and beliefs that have been stated as
facts. Postmodernists like to challenge audiences and force them to continually ask
questions about why society is the way it is, further illustrating that postmodernism is a
critique of what we feel is real and challenges the norm and ideas of structure and rational
thoughts.
The term ‘postmodern’ was first used around the 1870’s, with a man called John Watkins
Chapman using it to describe a ‘postmodern style of painting’ to move away forward from
French Impressionism. Later, in 1914 J. M. Thompson used the term to construe the
changes in beliefs and attitudes towards religion. Up to 1949, the term was used to describe
new forms of art and music, and also the distaste of modern architecture. However after
this, postmodernism was and is still being widely applied to many areas (as
aforementioned).
Jean-francoisLyotard was a literary theorist and analysed the impact of postmodernity
on the human condition. Lyotard and other writers argued that social change in areas,
specifically television has altered peoples cultural state and in turn has left the population
with a limited attention span, known as the ‘three minute culture’ due to advertisements. It
is disputed that MTV is culprit of this, deliberately representing media reality and not
representing reality. Accordant to some theorists, identity is now defined by what we
consume and our lifestyle i.e. what clothes we wear and were we shop, and is no longer
defined by our personal backgrounds.
Other examples of postmodern examples are art. Postmodernists eliminate the
boundaries between high and low forms of art, by disrupting conventions via collision,
fragmentation and also collage. Not only has this postmodernist art takesstyles from past
periods such as Gothicism and Renaissance mixes it with areas such as fashion, which is just
one common characteristic of postmodernism. Pop art is just one form of postmodern art,
with it capturing images that celebrated consumerism in World War 2. The early works of
people such as David Hockney and John McHale were examples in the movement. More
know artist like Andy Warhol also portray the movement of art in their work.
Postmodernists argue that there is not clear distinction between what actual reality is and
what media portrays as reality. Therefore we are living in a world where we know no
difference between real experiences and simulations of them, and example of this would be

2. the televised happening of 9/11, where the whole world could watch the attacks on the
World Trade Centres, including the live images of one of the planes crashing into the world
trade centre. Overall, postmodernist feel that we are a population that are over indulged in
media; that where ever we go, media follows, whether that be at home, at work or at
school. Media reality is classed as the new reality.