Postmodernity: Theory and Criticism

What is postmodernity? It is a concept everyone uses, approving or belittling those relate to it. Who are the postmodern thinkers and artists? What is postmodernism? In this course we will focus of a few selected texts and works that inspire, define and express that which is considered to be postmodern.

We will examine the source of inspiration for the postmodernists: Marx, Nietzsche, Freud—three thinkers who criticize the Western modern world and culture. We will follow those who articulated postmodern thought and practices, such as de Saussure (who claimed that language determines how we experience the world). We will focus on the criticism postmodernity provides, as Foucault and Derrida provide. We will explore visual works and criticism to ask: who the is modern subject? Who is the postmodern person? We will read some texts by Heidegger, Foucault, Derrida, Lacan, Deleuze, Haraway, Irigaray. We will engage with feminism, queer theory, postcolonial theory, anti-racism, environmental claims, as well as vegan studies. In short, we will study some expressions of the crisis we all find ourselves in.