Lyotard wrote of the 'death of the metanarratives' or the death of the Enlightenment project' (now often called 'modernity').
Very broadly, this refers to movements in political thought and other ideas from the eighteenth century onwards which proclaimed the
importance of reason, and the knowability of the world through it.
The next step was to argue that, if the world could be known, it could be changed – even for the better… Postmodernism, however, describes these ‘grand narratives’ - Marxism, feminism, belief in scientific progress etc - as nothing more than stories about history, naively structured with happy endings.
Instead postmodernism offers micro-narratives which do not necessarily add up, but which may be woven together, in a jumble of forms and styles.
Very broadly, this refers to movements in political thought and other ideas from the eighteenth century onwards which proclaimed the
importance of reason, and the knowability of the world through it.
The next step was to argue that, if the world could be known, it could be changed – even for the better… Postmodernism, however, describes these ‘grand narratives’ - Marxism, feminism, belief in scientific progress etc - as nothing more than stories about history, naively structured with happy endings.
Instead postmodernism offers micro-narratives which do not necessarily add up, but which may be woven together, in a jumble of forms and styles.
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