Post Modernism Perspective

Post-Modernism Perspective means genera of art and literature and especially architecture in reaction against the principle and, practices of established modernism(Dictionary meaning). Founding fathers of post-modernism are Frederic Jameson, Jean Baudrillard, Jacques Derrida, Michelle Foucault, Sigmund Fred.

Development of mass media, expansion of print capitalism, development of critical thinking in art, culture, music, literature, tradition, norms and values made the situation suitable for the post-modernist. This theory became very powerful after the decade of the 1980’s onward.

Differences between Post Modernism and Modernity

Post Modernism	Modernity
Reject absolute truth, pointing out the assumption.	Trust and absolute truth.
Facts created through assumptions.	Facts created through logic and observations.
Diversity of doctrines.	A desire for an absolute doctrine.
Emphasis on story, journey, and discoveries.	Emphasis on logic, logical proportion.

Key concepts of this theory:

• According to this theory, “there is no single truth, single interpretation and single structure that governs the world.”
• It assumes truth is contextual and situational created by powers.
• Every truth is created by power and circulated by audio-visual forms.
• Post-modernism wants to rupture the pre-established set of the structure of society and seeks to find out the new meanings and new truths but ultimately postmodernism is only an ideological revolution.
• It believes in multiple interpretations, plurality, inclusiveness, and multiple truth.

Key points to remember

1. It assumes that there is no final research finding that creates the ultimate truth to a particular community. No truth is the final truth. No interpretation is the final interpretation.
2. Art, culture, music, literature, norms, values, social ideology, and human relationships have radically been changed by questioning the single meaning and single center.
3. It believes in individual rights, individual meaning of right, freedom, choice, multiple meanings, multiple truths, multiple interpretations, and multiple centers.

Contributions of Jean Baudrillard (27 July 1929-6 March 2007)

He was a French sociologist, philosopher, cultural theorist, political commentator, and photographer. Baudrillard sees contemporary societies dominated by media, cyber, computers, information processing, entertainment and knowledge industry living in a postmodernism world.

He finds this perspective in a new postmodern consumerism behavior, media, high technology-based society, the mutating role of arts and culture, fundamental changes in politics, culture and human being.

According to him, the impact of new media, information, and cyber-tech makes the world different. He argues that capitalist strives to control people’s shopping habits and behavioral patterns.

Important Part:

• He was fascinated by how media affect our perspective of reality.
• He concluded that in the post-modern or media-laden condition, we experience something called “The death of the Real”.
• According to him, we live our lives in hyper-reality, connecting more and more deeply to think like TV ads, music videos, virtual reality, Disneyland, think that merely simulate really which ended is not the reality itself. It is a pseudo-truth.
• He coined the term ‘simulacra’ and simulation where he seeks the relationships among reality, symbols, and society.
• Simulacra mean copies that show the theme that have no original, to begin with, or no longer have originality.
• Elements of post-modernism according to him are Impulsion of media science, hyperreality, and simulation.

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