- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226072791
- eISBN:
- 9780226072814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226072814.003.0021
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
Postmodernism has proved to be neither a fad (although a measure of faddishness has marked it) nor a product of an overheated intellectual fashion industry. But neither has it turned out to be what ...
More
Postmodernism has proved to be neither a fad (although a measure of faddishness has marked it) nor a product of an overheated intellectual fashion industry. But neither has it turned out to be what postmodernists have expected it to be: the ultimate answer to life in general and historical understanding in particular. The postmodernist challenge's significant impact cannot be properly understood unless one focused attention on the postmodernist stipulation of a sharp break between modernity and postmodernity and of the need for a radical change in the human condition connected with it. For bringing that about, postmodernists had recourse to the reinterpretation of the role of time. Postmodernist theories became a serious challenge when they rejected the contention that the existentially important simultaneous presence of the two temporal experiences constituted an unalterable part of human life. These theories maintained that the exclusive dominance of either change or continuity was not only possible but was the necessary condition for a posthistoric postmodernity.Less
Postmodernism has proved to be neither a fad (although a measure of faddishness has marked it) nor a product of an overheated intellectual fashion industry. But neither has it turned out to be what postmodernists have expected it to be: the ultimate answer to life in general and historical understanding in particular. The postmodernist challenge's significant impact cannot be properly understood unless one focused attention on the postmodernist stipulation of a sharp break between modernity and postmodernity and of the need for a radical change in the human condition connected with it. For bringing that about, postmodernists had recourse to the reinterpretation of the role of time. Postmodernist theories became a serious challenge when they rejected the contention that the existentially important simultaneous presence of the two temporal experiences constituted an unalterable part of human life. These theories maintained that the exclusive dominance of either change or continuity was not only possible but was the necessary condition for a posthistoric postmodernity.
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226072791
- eISBN:
- 9780226072814
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226072814.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, Historiography
History reflected the cosmic ordering process in its three stages. In the first stage, instincts and the environment cooperated in shaping the initial, not-yet-fully developed human beings into a ...
More
History reflected the cosmic ordering process in its three stages. In the first stage, instincts and the environment cooperated in shaping the initial, not-yet-fully developed human beings into a natural social whole. The second stage was one of increasing differentiations in all aspects of life resulting in a period of instability—that of history. At first glance, this period offered no improvement as it resulted from the disintegration of the harmonious whole. That third stage brought what later would be called posthistoric postmodernity. The historical forces, which had caused all the instability, lost their capacity to bring about noteworthy change.Less
History reflected the cosmic ordering process in its three stages. In the first stage, instincts and the environment cooperated in shaping the initial, not-yet-fully developed human beings into a natural social whole. The second stage was one of increasing differentiations in all aspects of life resulting in a period of instability—that of history. At first glance, this period offered no improvement as it resulted from the disintegration of the harmonious whole. That third stage brought what later would be called posthistoric postmodernity. The historical forces, which had caused all the instability, lost their capacity to bring about noteworthy change.
