Friday, 2 March 2012

Criticism of post-modernism

Rosenau 1993:

  • Its anti-theoretical position is essentially a theoretical stand. Rejecting or contradicting  theories means it still applies theory
  • While PM stresses the irrational, application of reason are freely used to advance the perspective
  • Its focus on the marginal is itself an evaluative emphasis of exactly the sort of text it attacks
  • PM makes a lot of use of intertextuality but often treats text in isolation
  • By adamantly rejecting modern criteria for assessing theory, PMs can't argue that there is no valid criteria for judgement
  • PM criticises the inconsistency of modernism by refuses to be held to the norms of consistency
  • PM contradict themselves by relinquishing truth claims in their own text.
Frederick Jameson:
  • Sees PM as vacuous and trapped in circular references
  • It's nothing more than continuous self-referential "jokes" which have no deeper meaning or purpose (Ironically PMs don't disagree with this but use his criticism as their purpose)
  • Literary and cultural output is more purposeful than this so he remains a modernist
  • Sees the reason for the present generations to express themselves through postmodernity as a result of heavy globalised, multinational dominated economy
  • The omnipresence of media explains why PMs merge text into "an undifferentiated whole" 

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