Postmodern


 * Etymology and Definition**

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, postmodern is defined as "subsequent to, or coming later than, that which is modern" (Postmodern, A). The post- preffix is derived from classical Latin (Post, Etymology) and the suffix modern is derived from the middle French word //moderne// (Modern, Etymology). The definition provided by the OED undersells the philosophical weight of the term postmodern, which J. F. Lyotard defines as "incredulity toward metanarratives" (p xxiv).The postmodern can be viewed in part as a broader historical condition that serves as a response to the concept of the modern, and has connections within philosophy, art, architecture and communication, among other fields. Postmodernism involves the navigation of a world in which cultural structures are broken down as legitimacy wanes; "universally applicable formulas or "covering laws" designed for the purposes of describing and controlling the world are of minimal use" (Lucaites and Condit, 1999, p 11).


 * Philosophical Roots**

Postmodern was first used in the field of philosophy (as opposed to art or architecture) in the work of J. F. Lyotard (1984), whose essay //The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge// provides a critique of the modern from the scientific and technical perspective. Lyotard, using the framework of Wittgenstein's "language games" (Wittgenstein 1953), argues that science "is obliged to legitimate the rules of its own game" which creates "a discourse called philosophy" (1984, xxiii). The problem is that both scientific and non-scientific knowledge sit within a "framework of generally applicable rules" that are "specific to each particular kind of knowledge" (1984, p 26). As a result, it is "impossible to judge the existence or validity of narrative knowledge on the basis of scientific knowledge and vice versa" (1984, p 26) even as science attempts to use narrative frames to define itself. As knowledge transitions from the metanarratives that defined the modern, the question of access arises. In a postindustrial society, "the question of the legitimation of knowledge is formulated in different terms" (1984, p 37) and "the classical dividing lines between the various fields of science are... called into question" (1984, p 39). This crisis of legitimation is especially prominent as computers and mass communication come into common use.

Jamieson (1984) provides a postmodern critique of the use of symbols, arguing that depth in art and architecture has been replaced by "a conception of practices, discourses and textual play" and that "depth is replaced by surface" (1984, p 62). Jamieson argues that this evolution into the postmodern "is inseparable from, and unthinkable without the hypothesis of, some fundamental mutation of the sphere of culture in the world of late capitalism" (1984, p 86). As global capitalism arises, divisions break down within cultures and the relationship between signifier and signified break down. This is best illustrated in "pastiche", or "blank parody" that emulates a certain time period or form of art (1984, p 65). Pastiche is also associated with "historicism", which is "the random cannibalization of all of the styles of the past" (Jamieson 1984, p 65-66). Jamieson argues that this is a form of Lacan's schitzophrenia, or "a breakdown in the signifying chain" that interferes between the normal path between signifier and signified" (Jamieson 1984, p 72). This results in a breakdown in coherent systems of meaning; much like with Lyotard, the rules that govern culture blend together and narrative frames become more useless.


 * Postmodernism and Rhetorical Studies**

McGee's (1999) (rather reluctant) interpretation of rhetoric through the postmodern lens grapples with the question of narrative frames. McGee argues that the fragmentation found within the postmodern makes "interpretation the primary task of speakers and writers and text construction the primary task of audiences, readers and critics" (McGee 1999, p 65). Finished discourse, to McGee, "is in fact a dense reconstruction of all the bits of other discourses from which it was made" (1999, p 70). Individual artifacts are fragments of the discourse as a whole presented by individual speakers and "[t]he speech is only a featured part of an arrangement that includes all facts, events, texts and stylized expressions deemed useful in explaining its influence and exposing its meaning" (1999, p 70).

Brummett (1999) examines intersubjectivity in terms of the postmodern, and examines why and how the mechanistic point of view expressed by the modern (with rigid rules that are legitimized). The mechanist or modernist views systems and people in an aggregate and as a result simplify "phenomena and the contexts in which they are observed" (Brummett, 1999, p 155). However, Brummett argues that "[i]f objective reality exists people will never know it" and as a result reality can be interpreted different ways (199, p 158). In short, experience makes up reality, and "experience is sensation plus meaning"; people cannot make up any reality they choose but are constrained by sensation (1999, p 158). Furthermore, Brummett argues that the way by which humans share their experiences with each other is through the use of rhetoric; "it is in the deepest and most fundamental sense the advocacy of realities" (1999, p 160).

Blair, Jeppeson and Pucci (2005) use the postmodern as a way to challenge the traditional notion of a rhetorical artifact and describe the rhetorical nature of the Vietnam Memorial, arguing that the Memorial is "a prototype of postmodern memorializing, perhaps among the first of its kind" (2005, p 602). Blair, Jepperson and Pucci argue that the monument juxtaposes themes in a way that "interacts with its contexts in a definitive manner" (2005, p 607), interacts with its surroundings by referencing certain geographic locations (the position of the Memorial's wall is done in a way where it cannot be seen from the White House, for instance) (2005, p 609) and changes as people leave items memorializing individuals, changing "the symbolic field" as each "addition alters the text" (2005, p 611). The breakdown of dividing lines can serve as a way to memorialize, especially in the case of the monument.

Gallagher (2001) finds postmodern influences within the rhetoric of Stokely Carmichael. She argues that Carmichael "used deconstruction and reversal to demonstrate the extent to which dialectical discourse is central to racism" (2001, p 154). The use of a competing rhetoric to challenge white privilege provided a way to break down cultural norms and allow white audiences to experience an alternative point of view. (2001, p 154-155).

Written by David Tokarz, August 2012

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 * References**

Blair, C, Jepperson, M. S. and Pucci Jr., Enrico. (2005). Public Memorializing in Postmodernity: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial as Prototype. In C. R. Burgchardt (Ed.) //Readings in rhetorical criticism,// Third Edition. State College, PA: Strata Publishing. 602-628.

Brummett, B. (1999). Some Implications of "Process" or "Intersubjectivity". In J. L. Lucaites, C. M. Condit, S. Caudill (Eds.) //Contemporary rhetorical theory: A reader.// New York: Guilford Press. 153-175.

Gallagher, V (2001). Black Power in Berkeley: Postmodern Constructions in the Rhetoric of Stokely Carmichael. //Quarterly Journal of Speech, 87//(2), 144-157.

Jamieson, F. (1984). Postmodernism, or the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism. //New Left Review//, (146), 53-92.

Lucaites, J. L., C. M. Condit. (1999). Introduction. In J. L. Lucaites, C. M. Condit, S. Caudill (Eds.) //Contemporary Rhetorical Theory: A Reader.// New York: Guilford Press.1-18.

Lyotard, J.F. (1984). //The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge//. (G. Bennington and B. Massumi trans), Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

McGee, M. C. (1999). Text, Context and the Fragmentation of Contemporary Culture. In J. L. Lucaites, C. M. Condit, S. Caudill (Eds.) //Contemporary Rhetorical Theory: A Reader.// New York: Guilford Press. 65-78.

Modern (2012). //The Oxford English Dictionary//. Retrieved (2012, August 2) from []

Post-, prefix. (2012). //The Oxford English Dictionary//. Retrieved (2012, August 2) from []

Postmodern. (2012). //The Oxford English Dictionary//. Retrieved (2012, August 2) from []

Wittgenstein, L. (1953). //Philosophical Investigations//. (G.E.M. Anscombe trans), New York: Macmillan.