Summary

What on earth is postmodernism? Here, at last, is a long overdue guide to the maddeningly enigmatic concept which is supposed to define the human cultural condition in the late 20th century. Postmodernism claims that modernity, which began with The Enlightenment, industrialism and Marx, has collapsed. There is now just an endlessly contemporary world full of contested meanings. The resulting postmodern culture embodies parody, pastiche and cultural cross-over. It also claims as its own such diverse phenomena as Andy Warhol, Disneyland and the Gulf War. Introducing Postmodernism takes us on a roller-coaster ride through structuralism, deconstruction, cyberspace and semiotics in the company of the essential postmodern icons from Lacan and Lyotard to Foucault and Derrida. It is crucial reading for anyone who is fascinated by the hall of mirrors that is postmodernism.