Postmodernism

[meglet]

Can someone please explain is layman's what postmodernism is? I have just looked it up on wikipedia and frankly didn't understand a word of it!

[chakka35]

Apologies for having mis-spelled Francis Wheen's name.

[mibn2cweus]

Theland, I'm taking a liking to the pomo abbreviation for postmodernism. Looks very much like porno at first glance; a suitable appraisal for a philosophy that is anything butt (sic). Other than that I consider my previous post an adequate summation for one of many illegitimate philosophies. There are simply too few hours in the day to spend much time examining turds before flushing.

Chomsky

[WaldoMcFroog]

Gotta love Chomsky!

[meglet]

Thanks very much chakka. I've just bought "mumbo jumbo" on Amazon.

[Theland]

Mibs - I can see immediately why Waldo is a fan. Reading that article is like getting drunk or stoned, but cheaper, and doesn't smell as much as watching paint dry.
Do you think I could earn a few bob writing stuff like that? There must be a market for it, and somebody is paying these people. Like I said, a gravy train, and I'd love to climb aboard. Beats working for living.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Er, Chomsky is attacking post modernism, Theland, not writing it.

Sorry if you think he's boring. I happen to find him endlessly fascinating, but I can say with absolute certainty that I've never experienced an altered state of consciousness as a result of reading his work.

Are you sure your Blue Nun hasn't been spiked?

[Theland]

Ou really? There's a difference?

[Theland]

Blue Nun? I gave her the night off.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Would it be fair to ask whether it's like putting the works of Shakespeare next to the collected works of Richard Littlejohn and asking someone who only knew Xhosa to judge whether one was better written than the other?

[Theland]

Yes, but what exactly do any of them actually do?
I mean, what use are they?
They don't invent or make anything, thay don't make laws or run businesses, they just waffle on, and get paid for it.

[ruby27]

Meglet
I am not sure what areas of PM are of interest to you. These obviously reflect my reading.

If you are interested in social psychology,
An Introduction to Social Constructionism by Vivien Burr is easy to read and a excellent introduction to this area of PM.

If you are interested in the influence of PM on feminist theory
Chapter Four Postmodernism
feminism, Michele Barrett,
in the book Social Theory, Social Change and Social Work
Nigel Parton. You can read this chapter on the internet and don't have to buy the whole book.

[Quinlad]

What, Theland, like a priest you mean?

[catocat]

Firstly, it's necessary to understand what "modernism" is. Depending on context, modernism can refer to an art movement dating from the late 19th / early twentieth centuries or to the general sweep of western thought dating from the Enlightenment to the present, as it is informed by rationality and rationalism (these terms are both general and specific - see dictionary). From early on, the culture of rationalism had its critics, but in the latter part of the twentieth century, the relationship between human existence and philosophical rationalism came increasingly into question. Post-modern in this context refers to what succeeds rationalism. In many ways, the success of rationalism can be seen in the 'advances' of science & technology, but in my view, the questionability of rationalism arises when it is over-applied to human situations. There were an increasing number of crises in the twentieth century and 21st century that have their roots in rationalism, yet remain little understood in these terms - for example, USA's loss of the Vietnam war; the post-communist economic re-structuring of Russia, the re-structuring of Iraq; the English education system and many of the day to day activities of governments and institutions that attempt to reduce us to a number or economic unit. The crises have their origin in the application of rational practices to arrive at a representation of 'reality' - the question is: if rationality gets us no closer to 'reality' (because of what it might omit), then where do we go? Ultimately then post-modernism is a question of representation: is rationalism any better than any other system of thought in modelling reality?

This is brief and therefore lacking in the subtleties; hope it is helpful in cutting through the language issues.