Postmodernism refers to a broad movement in the arts and culture that developed in the mid-20th century in response to modernism. It is characterized by skepticism of grand narratives, ideologies, and binary oppositions. One of its key concerns is deconstruction, developed by Jacques Derrida, which involves analyzing texts to question presuppositions and ideological underpinnings through techniques like close reading without reference to external authorities. Postmodernism influenced fields like architecture, where it led to fragmented and distorted building designs that play with conventions. The term was first used in different contexts in the late 19th century but came to define a historical movement by the mid-20th century as a reaction against imperialist capitalism and modern

1. What is postmodernism?
Postmodernism is a term which describes the postmodernist movement in the arts, its set of cultural
tendencies and associated cultural movements. It is in general the era that follows Modernism.[1]
It
frequently serves as an ambiguous overarching term forsceptical interpretations
of culture, literature, art, philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. It is often
associated with deconstruction and post-structuralism because its usage as a term gained significant
popularity at the same time as twentieth-century post-structural thought.
One of the most well-known postmodernist concerns is "deconstruction," a concern for philosophy,
literary criticism, and textual analysis developed by Jacques Derrida. The notion of a "deconstructive"
approach implies an analysis that questions the already evident deconstruction of a text in terms of
presuppositions, ideological underpinnings, hierarchical values, and frames of reference. A
deconstructive approach further depends on the techniques of close reading without reference to
cultural, ideological, moral opinions or information derived from an authority over the text such as the
author. At the same time Derrida famously writes: "Il n'y a pas de hors-texte (there is no such thing as
outside-of-the-text)."Derrida implies that the world follows the grammar of a text undergoing its own
deconstruction. Derrida's method frequently involves recognizing and spelling out the different, yet
similar interpretations of the meaning of a given text and the problematic implications of binary
oppositions within the meaning of a text. Derrida's philosophy influenced a postmodern movement
called deconstructivism among architects, characterized by the intentional fragmentation, distortion,
and dislocation of architectural elements in designing a building. Derrida discontinued his
involvement with the movement after the publication of his collaborative project with architect Peter
Eisenmann.
The term "Postmodern" was first used around the 1870s. John Watkins Chapman suggested "a
postmodern style of painting" as a way to move beyond French Impressionism. J. M. Thompson, in
his 1914 article in The Hibbert Journal (a quarterly philosophical review), used it to describe changes
in attitudes and beliefs in the critique of religion: "The raison d'etre of Post-Modernism is to escape
from the double-mindedness of Modernism by being thorough in its criticism by extending it to
religion as well as theology, to Catholic feeling as well as to Catholic tradition."[9]
In 1917, Rudolf Pannwitz used the term to describe a philosophically-oriented culture. His idea
of post-modernism drew from Friedrich Nietzsche's analysis of modernity and its end results
ofdecadence and nihilism. Pannwitz's post-human would be able to overcome these predicaments of
the modern human. Contrary to Nietzsche, Pannwitz also included nationalist and mythical elements
in his use of the term.[10]
In 1921 and 1925, Postmodernism had been used to describe new forms of art and music. In 1942 H.
R. Hays described it as a new literary form. However, as a general theory for a historical movement it
was first used in 1939 by Arnold J. Toynbee: "Our own Post-Modern Age has been inaugurated by the
general war of 1914-1918."[11]
In 1949 the term was used to describe a dissatisfaction with modern architecture, and led to
the postmodern architecture movement,[12]
perhaps also a response to the modernist architectural
movement known as the International Style. Postmodernism in architecture is marked by the re-
emergence of surface ornament, reference to surrounding buildings in urban architecture, historical
reference in decorative forms, and non-orthogonal angles.

2. After that, Postmodernism was applied to a whole host of movements, many in art, music, and
literature, that reacted against tendencies in the imperialist phase of capitalism called "modernism,"
and are typically marked by revival of historical elements and techniques.[13]
Walter Truett
Anderson identifies Postmodernism as one of four typological world views. These four world views
are the Postmodern-ironist, which sees truth as socially constructed; the scientific-rational, in which
truth is found through methodical, disciplined inquiry; the social-traditional, in which truth is found in
the heritage of American and Western civilization; and the neo-romantic, in which truth is found
through attaining harmony with nature and/or spiritual exploration of the inner self.