Word

postmodernism

noun C1

/pəʊstˈmɑdɚnɪzəm/

Meanings

noun

A cultural and intellectual movement that questions universal truths and emphasizes plurality, irony, and the mixing of styles.

postmodernism: A cultural and intellectual movement that questions universal truths and emphasizes plurality, irony, and the…

noun

A style in art, literature, or architecture that playfully combines different historical references and often uses parody or self-awareness.

postmodernism: A style in art, literature, or architecture that playfully combines different historical references and often…

Definition

Postmodernism is a late-20th-century cultural movement that questions grand narratives and mixes styles in art, literature, and theory.

Postmodernism is a set of ideas and artistic approaches that became influential in the late 20th century. It often doubts the existence of a single, objective truth and challenges big, universal explanations of history, society, or culture. In art and literature, it commonly uses irony, self-reference, and the mixing of “high” and “popular” styles. The term is used across fields such as philosophy, architecture, and cultural studies, and its meaning can vary by context.

Examples

In my seminar, we debated whether postmodernism helps us read media more critically or simply replaces one dogma with another.
Your essay links postmodernism to the novel’s shifting narrator and its refusal to offer a final moral verdict.
His lecture on postmodernism highlighted how irony can undermine authority while still relying on shared cultural references.
Her dissertation argues that postmodernism in architecture turns historical quotation into a design strategy rather than a commitment to tradition.
Their discussion of postmodernism kept returning to the tension between celebrating diversity of perspectives and losing standards for evaluation.

Common mistake

Learners often use postmodernism as a vague synonym for “modern,” but it specifically refers to ideas and styles that react against or rethink modernism.