Postmodernism For Beginners Paperback – August 21, 2007

Jim Powell, the author of Postmodernism for Beginners does not say that this will be easy. I was a philosophy major and then spent four years in graduate school studying theology which is at least somewhat similar to philosophy. I read this book slowly. Appreciated the cartoons, of which there were many, not so much that they advanced the thought, but that briefly they delivered me from it.Everything I know about postmodernism I have learned from this book, so when I tell you that reading anything else will probably be even more difficult, I am accepting the authors evaluation of his fellow postmodern authors. But I can tell you he does use simple words, grows concepts gradually, and is not trying to show off how admirably different he is. I think he is as clear as one can be taking this mountain of knowledge and describing it in 156 pages.There are at least three difficulties that cannot be easily overcome. First, there is not agreement on what postmodernism is, so the best he can do is take you down a list of postmodern heroes and tell you what they think or did, always haunted by the reality, if there is such a thing as reality, that there are others who did other things. (But who cares anyway because it is not what it is that counts but what you think it is. Try that one out the next time you are on a quiz show. Or taking a test. Or telling a cop how fast you were going.)Second, the normal language of postmodernism has been created to express ideas strange to most of us modernists. So we have strange words for strange ideas. Powell gives us a lift by eschewing or explaining most of these words. But he has to use some of them.Three, while postmodernism is a philosophy, it is also an art form, (painting, architecture, dance, music, literature, and Madonna. {Yes, Madonna for she knows that appearance means more than reality so she is totally simulation. She is “simulacra.” One of those words I told you about. Get used to it. “Rhizomatic” will have come earlier and despite its importance in a non-centered universe does not show in the appendix. Why is that? I think he just forgot it, but who knows.}) So we cannot settle for just understanding a corner of this world and think we understand postmodernism. (For instance there is no center for center implies marginalization. Since the marginal see themselves as central the axiom that one plus one equals zero applies.) If you understand that immediately you may be ready for all of this. )After reading Postmodernism for Beginners do I understand postmodernism? Of course not. Well, just a little. More than I did. If you would like to understand it and know nothing, I do think this is a book to get you started. I’m not sure I want to know any more than I now know.I do know that the postmodernist, or at least many of them, have no belief in a meta-story so there goes the resurrection, reincarnation and even a hopeful evolution. Since I am 79 this is really bad timing guys. Some think post-modernism is dead. That cheers me a little. If it is dead, do I get my meta-stories back? I would like to die thinking if I am not to play a harp, or reappear as a genius frog or have participated in the evolution of the species, at least that I have improved my little corner of the world. But sad to say, the meta-story of “improving” is also out along with better or worse. Tsk. Are you sure you want to know this?Let me admit it. I am going to read it again.You may have just read a post-modern review of a book on post-modernism. Put this jumble in your head and proceed to wherever.

Since there's less difference between post-structuralism and post-modernism than between the two "comic books" this series devotes to the two terms, readers may wish to know which one to purchase. I found Powell's book on postmodernism considerably more readable than its cousin, partly because of the subject ("postmodern" entails an era as well as a theory and, moreover, is inextricably bound up with popular culture) but also because of Powell's style and approach: The book's narrative, map, and examples not only steer the reader through the potential clutter but keep him sufficiently interested and entertained to become informed. Moreover, Powell covers (with the exception of Jacques Lacan) the major thinkers dealt with in this same series' introduction to post-structuralism.The author manages to maintain sufficient detachment from his subject to provide perspective and levity while at the same time taking it seriously enough to provide a substantial explanation of the causes and symptoms of postmodernism, a decoding of its formidable jargon, and a lucid explication of difficult writers such as Baudrillard and Jameson. He also addresses key questions such as the difference between modernism and postmodernism, post-structuralism and post-modernism (let me put it this way: the former "reads" the text of verbal signs, or words; the latter reads the text of visual signs, or images).A couple of caveats: Deconstructionists, post-modernists, etc. tend to take themselves very seriously, ironically adopting reactionary positions and political ideologies no less rigid than the "logocentric" views they originally challenged. Also, in many respects the media culture changes so quickly and unexpectedly that even "pomo" gurus like Baudrillard can suddenly look quaintly old-fashioned and dated.Finally, post-structuralism, deconstruction, postmodernism are primarily words of the academy; their value as currency, moreover, rapidly diminished after the 1980s. But because so many young academics, graduate students, and sophomoric philosopher-dilettantes invested so much of themselves in learning French theory (often at the expense of studying the objects of inquiry), they tend to overestimate its importance on the present-day scene, imposing it upon bewildered young students having difficulty weighing its actual importance. The author's plan does not include a critique of "postmodernism," but had he room for an additional chapter, he might well have considered providing one.

I purchased this book because I was working on a scholarly paper for a conference. The theoretical lens I'm planning on using is Post Modernism, which I had a vague concept of thanks to a pair of graduate theory courses in graduate school. This text explains Post Modernism from its beginnings in architecture, its influence on art, literature, and philosophy.Reading this, in addition to my Theoretical Anthology from grad school, I though to myself "FINALLY! A text that explains how Post-Modern theory works in terms that I can understand and in writing that doesn't sound like it's blowing pipe smoke at me."This book is a level or two above "Post Modernism for Dummies" but approaches the subject matter as if you, the reader, know nothing about the subject and explains everything regarding Post Modern theory. This is an excellent text that teaches the theory and its theoretical framework in simple, easy to understand terms, but without condescending to the reader.Excellent text! Excellently written.

Of all the how to books on postmdernism this is the finest that i have seen. It deals with concepts and writers, giving time for each. It is clear to me that the author knows his subject with confidence, and so can communicat that understanding. Thoroughly recommended.

I dont mind a few marks on second hand books, i expect it, but this book had a bit too many. The last owner must have spent most of his/her time distracted as the book was full of penis sketchesI didnt pay for the extras and I didnt want them..

The book goes to cover postmodernism from a variety of viewpoints ranging from philosophy to art and literature. Brief but profound.

It's really a good book for the beginners.Presentation is attractive and well arranged. This book surely will help in preparing ground and obviously provides a road way that will help for further reading.Overall Jim Powell's book worth buying.