What is postmodernism?
Q: What is postmodernism?
A: Postmodernism is a way of thinking about culture, philosophy, art and many other things. It says that there is no real truth and knowledge is always made or invented rather than discovered. People can believe different things and think it is the truth and all be right.
Q: How does postmodernism differ from objectivity?
A: Objectivity says that the truth is always there and people have to discover it, whereas postmodernism says that the truth is just a thing that people invent.
Q: What did modernists believe in?
A: Modernists believed that science and new knowledge would make the world better, so when scientists or philosophers discovered something new, it would always make society a little bit better. They thought that social progress could not be stopped.
Q: What does postmodernism say about social progress?
A: Postmodernism says that there is no real social progress - while some things about the world change, people only want to believe that the world is better than it was. It changes but does not get better because there is no 'better'.
Q: In what fields has postmodernism influenced?
A: Postmodernism has influenced many cultural fields including literary criticism, philosophy, sociology, linguistics, architecture, visual arts, and music.
Q: When did postmodern ideas become common?
A: The term postmodernity usually means the period of time when postmodern ideas became common (the second half of the 20th century).
Q: Is postmodernism still relevant today?
A: Some experts think that postmoderinm may be over in literature but its influence can still be seen in philosophy, culture and society studies as well as history and law.
