post-modern period (1945 - now)

• particularly defines 1960s n 1970s

• changing gender n family dynamics

• openness to multi-culturalism n lgbtq+

• rapid developments in technology

• concern for the environment

• link to post-structuralism (artificiality of social structures)

writers:

• zadie smith

• kurt vonnegut

• salman rushdie

• margaret atwood

• gabriel garcia marques

key features:

• fragmented narratives n poetry

• scepticism

• moral relativism

• distrust of grand narratives n authority figures (n ideologies)

• expansion of canon to include writers of colour - multiculturalism

• ‘magical realism’

• reusing n recycling existing tropes n images

• creating chaos out of order

• refiguring older ideas in new ways

• celebrating n undermining past texts

• very specific references, crystal-clear imagery, no ambiguity

• at the heart of postmodernism, modernism is still present eg dj shadow “building steam with a grain of salt” » verisimilitudinous, working-class imagery

• ambiguity over artistic intentions

  • so much clarity that you don’t know what it means eg tomato soup painting » andy warhol