Dear Todd,
1) postmodernism originates in the West and therefore can be seen as another
> form of imperialism.
I think that this statement bears further examination. What of Said,
Appadurai, Kanth et al.? They may well be Western-educated, but their ideas
reflect a definite and to some extent novel critique of Western (and, in
Kanth's case, 'Eastern' in the sense of 'Soviet') thought. Is there not
perhaps an element of the simple fact of the involvement of such thinkers in
'the discourse of postmodernity' which helps to constitute it?
> Postmodernism may free the colonized,
> but it also destroys one of the basic ingredients of any culture,
> ethnocentrism.
I don't believe that either of the claims in this statement has a great deal
of substance to it. Postmodernism only destroys ethnocentrism 'in its
dreams', and I would like to know on what grounds you base the claim that
ethnocentrism is a 'basic ingredient of any culture'. Ethnocentrism itself
is more complex beast than seems to be commonly acknowledged in the
'postmodern condition'. Ethnic alliances can be just as strong as ethnic
antimonies; claiming that a given culture is 'ethnocentric' is almost a
tautology: with respect to some cultures, yes, but not to all others.
Pomo seems to me to be the case of false consensus _in extremis_. People
talk about postmodernism as if there were some kind of common ground between
their own interpretation of it and a kind of abstract yet shared idea of a
'postmodern condition'. I would suggest that, if anything can be agreed on
about Pomo, it is that the sheer plurality of interpretations of it
precludes sweeping statements about its nature.
... and I acknowledge that even that claim is far from immune to scrutiny.
But I would agree that postmodernism calls third-world hierarchies into
question as well as 'Western Imperialism (tm)', if only to the extent it
succeeds in infiltrating the culture in question. Chiapas is an excellent
(if oft-quoted) example of sublimated cultures expressing a new-found
ontology through 'postmodern channels'.
Best Wishes,
--Mark
Mark Freestone,
Churchill College
Cambridge
CB3 0DS UK
mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
1) postmodernism originates in the West and therefore can be seen as another
> form of imperialism.
I think that this statement bears further examination. What of Said,
Appadurai, Kanth et al.? They may well be Western-educated, but their ideas
reflect a definite and to some extent novel critique of Western (and, in
Kanth's case, 'Eastern' in the sense of 'Soviet') thought. Is there not
perhaps an element of the simple fact of the involvement of such thinkers in
'the discourse of postmodernity' which helps to constitute it?
> Postmodernism may free the colonized,
> but it also destroys one of the basic ingredients of any culture,
> ethnocentrism.
I don't believe that either of the claims in this statement has a great deal
of substance to it. Postmodernism only destroys ethnocentrism 'in its
dreams', and I would like to know on what grounds you base the claim that
ethnocentrism is a 'basic ingredient of any culture'. Ethnocentrism itself
is more complex beast than seems to be commonly acknowledged in the
'postmodern condition'. Ethnic alliances can be just as strong as ethnic
antimonies; claiming that a given culture is 'ethnocentric' is almost a
tautology: with respect to some cultures, yes, but not to all others.
Pomo seems to me to be the case of false consensus _in extremis_. People
talk about postmodernism as if there were some kind of common ground between
their own interpretation of it and a kind of abstract yet shared idea of a
'postmodern condition'. I would suggest that, if anything can be agreed on
about Pomo, it is that the sheer plurality of interpretations of it
precludes sweeping statements about its nature.
... and I acknowledge that even that claim is far from immune to scrutiny.
But I would agree that postmodernism calls third-world hierarchies into
question as well as 'Western Imperialism (tm)', if only to the extent it
succeeds in infiltrating the culture in question. Chiapas is an excellent
(if oft-quoted) example of sublimated cultures expressing a new-found
ontology through 'postmodern channels'.
Best Wishes,
--Mark
Mark Freestone,
Churchill College
Cambridge
CB3 0DS UK
mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx