As with structuralism and post-structuralism, there is a great deal of debate about how exactly modernism and postmodernism differ. The two concepts are of different vintage, 'Modernism' being a long-standing category which is of crucial importance in the understanding of twentieth-century culture, whereas the term 'postmodernism', as is well known, has only become current since the 1980s. 'Modernism' is the name given to the movement which dominated the arts and culture of the first half of the twentieth century.

1. POSTMODERNISM

3. What is postmodernism?
Douglas mann in what is postmodernism? (Mann, 1996)
states, “postmodernism is a movement that describes social,
political, artistic and cultural practices after modernism. It is
a rejection of modernism.”

4. A brief introduction to postmodern theory
 Postmodernism is a word used to describe a range of areas in society.
 It derives from the term modernism, which was the previous movement that surrounded
modern thought, character, and practice, but more specifically, the modernist movement in
the arts and its cultural tendencies.
 In art, modernism rejected the ideology of realism. In general, the term modernism
encompasses the actions of those who felt the traditional forms of art, architecture,
literature, and social organization were becoming outdated in the new economic, social, and
political conditions of an incipient, fully industrialized world.
 Postmodernism can be described as a set of critical, strategic and rhetorical practices
employing concepts such as difference, repetition, trace, the simulacrum and hyper-reality
to destabilize other concepts such as presence, identity, historical progress and the univocity
of meaning.
The concept has gained much attention from theorists who have tried to define the indefinite
term, hence also working to define the postmodern era.
 These theorists include Jacques Derrida, Michael Foucault, Ihab Hassan, Jean-Francois
Lyotard, Jean Baudrillard, and Fredric Jameson.

5. Postmodern Modern
Rejects theories that try to totalize
reality
Believes in an all-encompassing "grand theory"
that combines culture, science, and history to
explain everything and represent all knowledge
Subjective Objective
No universal truths There are universal truths that govern the world
Irony, parody, lack of seriousness Seriousness, directness
No depth, only superficial
appearances
Faith in a deeper meaning over superficial
appearances
Rejects focusing on past experiences
and rejects objective historical truth
Believes in learning from past experiences and
the historical record

6. Ihab Hassan: "From Postmodernism to Postmodernity"
When attempting to identify Postmodernism, Ihab Hassan, in From Postmodernism to Postmodernity (Hassan, 2000) describes
how it “eludes definition” and is, like Romanticism and Modernism, fluid as it will “shift and slide continually with time,
particularly in an age of ideological conflict and media hype” (Hassan, 2000). Hassan goes on to explain that the term is “an
essentially contested category,” meaning that no one theorist can unambiguously explain the movement. In “Towards a
Concept of Postmodernism”, Hassan (1978) endeavors to categorize the term inclusive of its fluidity and in this light, he
continues to attempt at understanding Postmodernism before he can define it.
He builds a “family” of words connected to Postmodernism, such as “Fragments, hybridity, relativism, play, parody…an ethos
bordering on kitsch and camp". This list begins to build a context around Postmodernism, a way of describing, yet not
defining the word. What this implies is that fragments of previous genres are combined with irony and pastiche to create the
Postmodern. What it also implies is that, after the Postmodern era, nothing can be taken from the previous as nothing original
was designed.
Simulacra has become a significant aspect of postmodern society but if we continue to copy and re-use pieces from the past,
then what can be copied from the postmodern era? Hassan creates a list of Modernism versus Postmodernism, which is
meant to both explain and portray the complicated relationship between both movements. Under Modernism, we have words
like Form, Distance, Interpretation and Grande Histoire, while under Postmodernism we have Anti-form, Participation,
Against Interpretation and Petite Histoire. The distinctions are clear, but how do they relate to both Modernism and
Postmodernism?

7. Ihab Hassan: "From Postmodernism to Postmodernity"
In regards to theatre in the Modern era, distance was imperative to a drama’s success. Bertolt Brecht distanced
the audience from the narrative in order to enable the viewer’s to maintain a critical perspective on the action
on stage. By creating this distance, audiences could critically evaluate the meaning of the narrative, and
therefore, their own lives. In Postmodern theatre, the participation of the audience is crucial and welcomed to
allow participants to re-evaluate the connection between art and reality. Audience members and actors interact,
creating the theatre experience together.
John Cage’s “4.33” is a prime example of this as he records a three-movement composition of silence based on
the idea that any sound should constitute music, a truly postmodern contemplation. By creating the Modernist
versus Postmodernist list, Hassan began to further understand the postmodern technique. If one analyses art in
its Modernist form against its Postmodernist form, the distinction becomes clearer yet. Modernist art consisted
of simplicity of structure, uniformity, formalism, and order. It was usually bright, filled with shapes and lack of
definition.

8. Ihab Hassan: "From Postmodernism to Postmodernity"
Postmodernist art, however, is complex and eclectic. Taking different genres of artistic technique and
juxtaposing it. It can also be described as kitsch or ironic. Postmodern art uses pastiche and parody to comment
on the original piece of art that it represents. Literature has also come under the scrutiny of postmodern
thought as it combined elements of previous genres and styles of literature to create a new narrative voice.
Hassan, however, does acknowledge the many problems that surround and conceal the term. Other than the
problem of context, the word itself has inherent problems as Modern is contained in the word, and it,
therefore “Contains its enemy within” (Hassan, 1987). It cannot break away from the clutches of modernism,
and may only be regarded compared to Modernism. Another problem it encounters is the “semantic instability”
as there is no clear agreement about its meaning among theorists. These, nevertheless, are not the only
problems facing Postmodernity as Jean Baudrillard suggests in his essay Simulacra and Simulation (Baudrillard,
1994).

9. What is a simulacrum?
A simulacrum is a representational image or presence that
deceives; the product of simulation usurping reality. It is a
copy without an original.

10. Jean Baudrillard: "Simulacra and Simulation"
Baudrillard's account relates to the end of the era of modernity dominated by production, industrial capitalism,
and political economy. He proposes that what has happened in postmodern culture is that our society has
become so reliant on models and representations that we have lost all connection with the real world that
preceded the representation. Reality itself has begun to imitate the model, which now proceeds and determined
the real world “the territory no longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it” (Baudrillard, 1994). Postmodern
simulacra and simulation can be found not only in art but literature, media, and consumerist goods.
However, for Baudrillard, the question of simulacra is no longer of “imitation, nor duplication, nor even
parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real” (Baudrillard, 1994). Here, Baudrillard
suggests not quite that society has become artificial because even artificiality requires a sense of reality in which
to compare to. Rather, he is suggesting that society has lost the ability to make the distinction between the
reality of representation, and the representation itself. When looking at, for instance, Andy Warhol’s Marilyn
Monroe painting, we recognize who she is, and his artistic technique, but what we lose, is the reality behind
Monroe and her life. It is a lifeless painting that contains no depth, the simulacrum of the actress has lost touch
with the real Monroe.

11. Jean Baudrillard: "Simulacra and Simulation"
Baudrillard addresses three orders of Simulacra. The first, associated with the pre-modern period, is the image that is a
clear counterfeit of the original. It is recognized as an illusion, which also means recognizing the real.
In the second, associated with the industrial revolution, the distinctions between the image and the representation break
down due to mass production. These mass-produced copies or simulacrum, misrepresent the reality beneath them, by
imitating it so well that it threatens to replace the original.
The third, associated with the Postmodern age, relies on the complete lack of distinction between reality and its
representation, as the representation precedes and determines the real (Baudrillard, 1994). With each mode of simulacra, it
becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish the portrayal from reality.
Baudrillard points to numerous phenomena in society to explain this loss: Media culture, Exchange value, Multinational
Capitalism, Urbanization and Language and Ideology. Each of the phenomena proves a new way of thinking that has come
about in the last century. When once we saw goods valued for their use, now we regard them by the value they possess.
Consumerist goods have also lost touch with their true form through the complex industrial process. Now society does not
know where most of their food comes from. Urbanization is hugely important to the postmodern problem as it distances
society from the reality of nature. As we further lose touch with nature, we lose touch with ourselves also, by forgetting
where we came from.

12. Jean Baudrillard: "Simulacra and Simulation"
This hyper-reality is unrelenting in society, as it blurs the distinctions between the real and the unreal. The lifestyle magazines
that portray the perfect home are hyper-realities as the portrayal of the perfect home becomes an element of the real,
society cannot perceive the difference between what they are showed and what is the real ‘perfect home’. The perfect home
should not come down to how it looks, but the structures inside the home that work together in order to make it a perfect
place to live. Yet the boundary between hyper-reality and everyday life is erased as mass production and constant advertising
bombard our every aspect of life. Reality thus vanishes into these images and signs.
As a way of further explaining the difference between the real and the hyper-real in postmodern society, Baudrillard
examines the world famous Disneyland, "The happiest place on Earth". In his assessment of the world of fairy tales and
dreams that come true, he states that it is the perfect model of the simulacrum, a play on illusion and reality. It is an infantile
world that brings children closer to fantasy, as if fantasy was a reality. It conjures up the notion that adults are in the ‘real
world’, outside of Disneyland. Disneyland is, thus, an imaginary effect concealing that the reality no more exists on the
outside of it than on the inside (Baudrillard, 1994). In essence, civilization is inundated with these images and
representations, but the problem lies in our inability to discern these images from reality.
Examples of a Simulacrum
Classical example: a false icon for God
Modern example: Disneyland