Amy Elias's titled her article "Postmodern Southern Vacation," which begs the question: what do "postmodern" and "postmodernity" mean?"These terms are used by philosophers, social scientists, and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary culture, economics and society that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century life. These features include the fragmentation of authority, and the commoditization of knowledge (see "Modernity"). Postmodernity is a condition, or a state of being, or is concerned with changes to institutions and conditions (as in Giddens, 1990) - whereas postmodernism is an aesthetic, literary, political or social philosophy. In other words, postmodernism is the 'cultural and intellectual phenomenon,' especially since the 1920s' new movements in the arts, while postmodernity focuses on social and political outworkings and innovations globally, especially since the 1960s in the West."
Postmodern art is often characterized by a sense of play and an awareness that narratives, images, and signs (which belong to the category of signifiers) have become detached from their original referent (the signified). For example, I've included an image of the late Nashville legend, Porter Wagoner, who was as famous for his garish suits as he was for his duets with Dolly Parton.
In the next image, you'll see a more contemporary face--Meg & Jack White, a.k.a. The White Stripes...the greatest rock and roll two-piece out there. Now, think about the different ways in which Wagoner and White wear these similar outfits (Wagoner is wearing a Nudie suit, which is named for its tailor, Nudie Cohn). What is signified by each outfit?
For a more thorough explanation of postmodernism & postmodernity, I refer you to the Po-Mo Page.
1 comment:
I remember spending a whole semester my Junior English class in high school discussing about post-modernism. Post modernism as I remember from back then referred to a new type of movement that defines nothing with certainty. My teacher told me that in postmodernism, nothing has definite answer to it. I am not sure how to interpret the two different outfits of the each musicians with post modernist viewpoint. (How are they relevant with post-modernism?)
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