Date: Thu, 21 Sep 2000 08:47:39 -0400
From: Bill Freind <wfreind-AT-postoffice.providence.edu>
Subject: Re: Post Modernism




Everdell-AT-aol.com wrote:

<snip>

> On Postmodernism alone there is a good, short book by Perry Anderson, _The
> Origins of Postmodernity_ (Verso, 1998).  With a word like "modern,"
> sixth-century (AD) Latin for "modus hodiernus" or "style of today," you know
> there are going to be problems.

I like Anderson's book, too, although it seems to me he's best when he's
discussing theory. When he moves on to literature it seems as if he's a little
over his head. It's also important to keep in mind that most Marxists are
skeptical of postmodernism, although Anderson is a very smart and generous
reader. (I would also suggest that the Marxist skepticism toward postmodern lit
is based primarily on misreadings or ignorance. Jameson's idea that pomo is the
cultural logic of late capitalism certainly holds true for architecture and some
visual arts, but it falls apart with any number of novelists and poets.)

Bill Freind