Postmodernism, Twenty-First Century Culture, and American Fiction : Establishing the Continuum

Postmodernism’s ‘end’ is a complex and contentious topic.

Yet, one overarching consensus emerges: the postmodern has been surpassed.

This book poses a thought experiment challenging this position – what if postmodernism persists within the twenty-first century?Rather than designate a new epoch or coherent movement, this book interrogates the fragmented, contradictory, and counterintuitive endurance of postmodern aesthetics within post-Cold War America.

By decoupling postmodern aesthetics from their twentieth century historical location, an alternative use of postmodern aesthetics becomes possible.

Collectively, these repetitions posit a postmodern continuum, contrasting the widely called for succession of postmodernism via this decoupling.

When postmodern aesthetics are no longer unconsciously repeated within their cultural moment, this emergent shift within a period ‘after’ postmodernism presents an alternative historical positioning and use.

After their cultural vanguard, postmodern aesthetics become a confrontation of the chaotic realism of an inescapable post-Cold War capitalism, tapping into this cultural zeitgeist through literature.