So many opinions, so little time

“Postmodernism and the Other Side” – Dick Hebdige

Hebdige refers to the term “postmodernism” as a buzzword; saying that the terms success has generated problems, as during the 1980s the term was stretched in all different directions – meaning that “postmodernism” now has numerous different meanings.

He insists that he is not trying to suggest that the term is meaningless, but that it is so complex and contradictory that it allows the negotiation of numerous different meanings.

Stating that the word “post” means “past”, Hebdige points out that there is very little agreement as to what it is that we have supposed to have surpassed, when we surpassed it and what effects this is supposed to have had.

He goes on to describe several theorists’ views on postmodernism, in an attempt to clarify the diversity of the term.

Michael Newman (1986)

• “There are a least two artistic modernisms articulating different politico-aesthetic aspirations”

1. (Derived from Kant) One which seeks to establish the absolute autonomy of art

2. (Traced back to Hegel) One which puts art into life and leads through the surrealists, the constructivists and the futurists

Jean-Francois Lyotard (1986)

• Three separate tendencies

1. A trend within architecture

2. A decay in confidence in the idea and progress of modernism

3. A recognition that it is no longer appropriate to use the term “avant-garde”

J.G. Merquior (1986)

• Three separate tendencies

1. A style or mood of exhaustion/dissatisfaction with modernism in art and literature

2. A new trend in post-structuarlist philosophy

3. A new cultural age in the West

Hal Foster (1983)

• Distinguishes between neo-conservative, anti-modernist and critical postmodernisms
• Some critics seek to extend and revitalise modernist projects
• Others condemn modernist objectives and attempt to correct the effects of modernity on family life, moral values etc
• Others look to open up new discursive spaces outside the confines of established practices, the art market and the modernist orthodoxy

Critical Pluralism

• Defines postmodernism as a positive critical advance which fractures through two sources

1. The petrified hegemony of earlier “radical aesthetic” strategies

2. The pre-Freudian subject which formed the hub of the progressive wheel of modernisation