So What is Postmodern?

The Postmodern and It's Concepts

So What is Postmodern all About?

The Postmodern attributes itself to anything nontraditional within the sphere of culture i.e Art, Literature,Science, Music and was used in the 1990's to describe something that failed to make sense or was incoherent at the time. Though it is often associated with the 1990's (when it was most popular) it is impossible to claim whether the era of postmodernism is confined solely to that era or, is now in the confines of history (though many critics imply that Postmodernism is over). Basically, it is an alternative viewpoint on certain aspects that are overlooked by many and can be incorporated - in this instance - into texts through various means. For example, it could look at, and re-interpreting a historical event through a fictional means; E.g. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood or questioning realities and what is 'real' as does Girlfriend in a Coma. 

So what concepts can be explored throughout the postmodern? Well there are many and varied assets depending upon the text but the most traditional usually include one, or many, of the following: 

• Deliberately exposing its fictionality 
• The author working with the fictionality of the novel as using it to their advantage. 
• Usually referred to by critics as 'metafiction'
• Intertextuality 
• The use of a previous text already published and in wide circulation of the literary world and incorporating or re-interpreting it, exploring the relationship between texts. (For example, Wide Sargasso Sea explores the story of Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre)
• Narrative Technique
• This can take on many forms but the norm within the postmodern is a non-linear progression, often with various viewpoints and switching swiftly and unknowingly between viewpoints/characters.
• The Truth 
• Usually questions truth as a whole, how do we know what is true? And inferring that there is no singular 'truth' only 'truths'
• Reality
•  Often exploring the blur between the real and the copy 
• Identity
• Usually explores Identity, questioning its stability created through several influences, leading to a fractured Identity
• Gender
• Comparing the traditional gender roles and reversing them through an alternative viewpoint, ultimately concluding that gender is a construct of societal values and constructs and ideals.

Postmodern texts are unlikely to be comforting to read due its instability of characters, the  through differing viewpoints and narration whilst questioning what is 'true' and 'real' can sound like a daunting read, but! not all Postmodern texts will include all of these notions. They may explore a mixture of a few (as many are often interlinked), it is rare that all concepts will be present within a single text.