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The words ''postmodernism'' and ''postmodernity'' have become pervasive throughout the humanities, but their meanings frequently seem difficult to pin down. Anyone with an interest in contemporary culture is likely, sooner or later, to face a wide range of questions, such as: what is the postmodern? How does it relate to the world today? Have we entered a new age in which the problems facing modernity are no longer relevant, or does modernity mark a new way of thinking about those same issues? How does cultural postmodernism shape our experiences of contemporary society? These are just some of the questions that are explored in this book. introduces modernity, postmodernism and postmodernity through a series of debates between prominent thinkers in literary theory, philosophy and cultural studies. The book explores this topic through thinkers who are at odds and encourages readers to consider the wide implications of postmodern thought in several areas.>
List of contents
Acknowledgements
Notes on Contributors
Introduction
What is the Postmodern?
A Postmodern Fable; J-F.Lyotard
Postmodernism and Consumer Society; F.Jameson
Modernity: an Unfinished Project; J.Habermas
Answering the Question: What is Postmodernism; J.Lyotard
Representation and Reality
The Gulf War: Is it Really Taking Place?; J.Baudrillard
Deconstruction and Actuality; J.Derrida
Marxism, Ideology and the Postmodern
Ideology, Discourse and the Problems of 'Post-Marxism'; T.Eagleton
We Anti-Representationalists; R.Rorty
Postmodernism, Identity, Gender
Postmodernism and Feminisms; L.Hutcheon
Gender Trouble: From Parody to Politics; J.Butler
Crises in Legitimation: Crossing the Great Voids; A.Jardine
The Postcolonial and the Postmodern
Postmodern Blackness; B.Hooks
Locations of Culture: The Postcolonial and the Postmodern; H.Bhabha
The Politics of Postmodernity
Politics and the Limits of Modernity; E.Laclau
Summaries and Notes
Glossary of Terms
Index.
About the author
SIMON MALPAS is Lecturer in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, UK.
