Postmodernism

• Published in: Reference and user services quarterly 2014-09, Vol.54 (1), p.29-33
• Main Authors: Fischer, Rachel K., Graham, Aimee
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Aesthetic Education; Analysis; Architecture; Art History; Artists; Authors; Barthes, Roland (1915-1980); Collection development; Colonialism; Cultural Pluralism; Ethnic Studies; French literature; German language; Heidegger, Martin (1889-1976); History; Husserl, Edmund (1859-1938); International standard book numbers; Libraries; Linguistic Theory; Literary criticism; Literary postmodernism; Modern literature; Modernist art; Phenomenology; Philosophers; Philosophy; Postcolonial literature; Postcolonialism; Postmodern art; Postmodern literature; Postmodern philosophy; Postmodernism; Religion; Selection aids; Semiotics; Sociology; The Alert Collector; Theoretical linguistics
• ISSN: 1094-9054; 2163-5242
• DOI: 10.5860/rusq.54n1.29

Postmodernism was first coined in the 1950s but did not become a well-known philosophical term in France until the 1970s; however, it was not uncommon for those who studied philosophy and sociology in the US to have never heard of the term. Postmodernism is still not taught widely in universities outside of art history, philosophy, humanities, and cultural theory classes, yet postmodernist theories have truly impacted how we understand our society and interact with other societies today. It is a term that is inseparable with the study of other known philosophies. Postmodernism's precursors include linguistic theory, semiology, phenomenology, and modernism, and were closely associated with German philosophers like Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. While the meaning of postcolonialism may seem obvious to you, the postmodern dialogue debates whether colonialism has ended on the one end and examines the cultural theory of hybridity on the other. The resources that have been chosen for this list were chosen to represent postmodernism as a whole.