Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a worldview characterized by a belief in the lack of an objective truth, and which asserts that assertions of objective knowledge are essentially impossible. A strong part of postmodernist thought is an intentional departure from traditional approaches that had previously been dominant. Postmodernity has influenced many disparate fields of study, such as architecture, history, literary criticism, art, and others.

The term "postmodernism" comes from the causal relationship the movement has to modernism, rather than a temporal relationship. Both movements coexist today.

Some postmodernist ideas are:

• Truth is a "social construct," rather than objectively provable.
• A society's choice of language reflects their general perceptions of the rules by which the world operates (see political correctness).
• There is no one superior culture; Western culture is no better than any other (see cultural relativism).
• The frequent use of irony and humorous wordplay to shift the meanings of words is encouraged as this causes people to rethink their assumptions about culture and language.
• Gender roles, sexuality and race are socially constructed, not inborn traits.

Critics of postmodernism include those who believe in an objective truth that can be explored by human means, among others.

See Also

• Deconstruction
• Queer theory