Postmodern critics of modernity sometimes treat the latter not only as the pursuit and ambition for totality; they treat it as a totality, as an undifferentiated whole. But if postmoderns are right, even modernity was fragmented and frayed at the edges, and the appearance of totality is a modernist ruse. A truly postmodern critique of modernity then would have to much more nuanced and differentiated, questioning even the usefulness of the category of modernity.
Postmoderns also sometimes treat postmodernism as if it were an undifferentiated, unproblematic whole. Images predominate over words, we’re told, and we’ve entered the age of “hyperreality.” But, as Featherstone notes, these characteristic postmodern experiences are normally confined to specific locations (Disneyland, the mall, TV). A truly postmodern advocacy of postmodernism would have to be more nuanced, questioning even the usefulness of the category of postmodernity.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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