Postmodernism

- since the Sixties on

- a cultural movement which is still going on today

- is made of the prefix post (it not only means after but it also may mean something going beyond), the suffix ism (which implies something negative) and the world modern

- it does no longer believe in the concept of truth, it put therefore the question of authority into doubt

- it does no longer believe in a center (God, a value or a dogma) but many centers ← Modernism still believes in the possibility of finding a truth, something to believe in = quest

- it does no longer believe in the existence of an absolute meaning because meaning is never stable, always slippery and differed ← Modernism finds a center of meaning for example through myth

- the position of the reader is the best one because it is the reader who makes sense and gives one of the possible meanings

- it abolishes the difference between low and high art ← Modernism privileges high culture such as literature and classical art

Postmodernism is a cultural movement evolved in reaction to Modernism. The word Postmodernism is made of the prefix post that may mean something going beyond, the suffix ism which implies something negative and the world modern. It does no longer believe in the concept of truth and in a concept of a center (God, a value or a dogma) as it generally happen in all previous movements likewise Modernism.

If Modernism, covers the first three decades of the Nineties, is still looking for a center, Postmodernism questions all that and comes to the conclusion that there is not a single meaning and therefore meaning is never stable, always slippery and differed. Another key difference between the two movements is the difference in attitude to high and low culture. Modernism privilege high culture such as literature and classical art on the other hand Postmodernism doesn't put any form of art on a pedestal and combine high art with popular culture.