Can somebody decribe to me simply, what post modernism actually is?

Question

Im studying it for english, and its so hard to get my head around. Characteristics of post modernism, what it actually is, some post modern texts etc, would be excellent. XX

Answer 1

Postmodernism is probably best understood as a reaction to modernism. So let's start with that.

Modernism was a kind of revolution in a variety of fields to push forward toward a perceived notion of progress. Modernists often thought that a certain amount of pushing might be necessary because some of our old traditions, ideas, and customs might be holding us back. So in modernism you see both a complete rejection of the old ways (particularly realism) and an attempt to thrust forward into a kind of super-future where everything is structured and makes sense.

Post-modernists are largely just guys who think the modernists had it all wrong. Since there are a lot of ways in which the modernists might have been wrong, that makes post-modern work kind of scattered (which is probably part of why it is hard to get your head around!).

What many post-modern writers reject is the modern assumption that things must have some kind of meaning. So many of the works that are described as post-modern HAVE no meaning, no story, no moral, no narrative, and almost no point. They are often just a bunch of things that happen with no particular connection to each other. Where a modern work might have a bunch of puzzle pieces that are meant to be put together, a post-modern work will be pretty much impossible to put together. Chaos is insurmountable.

Look, then, for things that don't make sense. They world is portrayed as meaningless and absurd. What's left? Often a either kind of wry, black humour or else a growing sense of paranoia. Also look for a break-up in the narrative. Time jumps around. Focal characters and settings shift for no particular reason.

Lots of pretty good (and weird) books are considered post-modern. Catch-22, On the Road, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Slaughterhouse Five. So it goes.