Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or characterized by postmodernism: This describes a style, concept, or work that reflects the ideas, theories, or artistic styles of postmodernism, which is a late 20th-century movement reacting against modernism. It often involves skepticism, irony, and the blending of styles from different periods and cultures.

Usage

• The adjective postmodern is used to describe art, architecture, literature, philosophy, or cultural attitudes that are typical of the postmodern era. It often implies a departure from or questioning of established norms, grand narratives, and pure styles.

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The building's design is distinctly postmodern, combining classical columns with sleek, modern glass.
  • Her novel uses postmodern techniques like fragmentation and unreliable narration.
  • We studied postmodern critiques of objective truth in philosophy class.

Advanced Usage

• "postmodern condition": A term describing the state of culture and society in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, characterized by fragmentation, consumerism, and media saturation.
  • The film is a reflection on the alienation of the postmodern condition.
• "postmodern irony": A characteristic attitude involving self-consciousness, skepticism, and the playful use of styles without commitment to their original meaning.
  • The advertisement's use of postmodern irony makes its message deliberately ambiguous.

Variants and Related Words

• Postmodernism (n): The broad movement or set of ideas from which the adjective "postmodern" derives.
  • Postmodernism challenges the idea of universal truths.
• Postmodernist (n/adj): (As a noun) A practitioner or supporter of postmodernism. (As an adjective) Synonymous with "postmodern."
  • The postmodernist argued that history is not a single story but many competing narratives.
  • That is a postmodernist approach to filmmaking.

Synonyms

• Deconstructionist: Often used in literary and philosophical contexts to describe an approach that seeks to expose contradictions in texts and concepts.
• Metamodern: A term sometimes used for cultural developments that come after or synthesize postmodernism.

Related Phrases

• "postmodern turn": Refers to the significant shift in thought and culture towards postmodern perspectives.
  • The postmodern turn in the arts occurred in the 1970s.
• "postmodern sensibility": Describes a particular awareness or style of thinking aligned with postmodern ideas.
  • The magazine captures the postmodern sensibility of the digital age.

Adjective

1. of or relating to postmodernism
   • postmodernist architecture