Perceiving the Modern

books:

	• The Postmodern Explained: Correspondence, 1982-1985 Jean-Francois Lyotard University of Minnesota Press, 1992 - 141 pages average customer review:based on 1 review view larger image
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Perceiving the Modern

As a hard-core modernist, I've been puzzled by this whole postmodern phenomena, which, to me, seemed impenetrable, so the title of this book caught my eye. Further, Lyotard has been called the theoretician of the postmodern, hence this book seemed like a good place to start trying to understand the postmodern. The book contains an afterward by Wlad Godzich that I found to be extremely helpful (read it first). I cannot claim to understand the postmodern, even after reading this book, but I have some insight into how it can make us more aware of the modern, which is characterized by a belief in universals and the project of improvement and emancipation of all humanity from bondage. Legitimacy for the actions toward that end was believed to stem from the Idea of this ultimate condition. However, 20th Century history has cast doubt on both the theoretical underpinnings (legitimacy) and practice of progress (how could the modern project have led to Auschwitz?). It is this doubt that created a postmodern awareness. 'Post' not in the sense of following, but in the sense of complexity subsuming and overwhelming the naive (unexamined) nature of this long standing project of progress.

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