Poetic Terms Dictionary
Literary Movement

Postmodernism

Emerged in the 1960s–70s as a reaction to Modernism's seriousness. Theorised by Lyotard, Jameson, Baudrillard. In poetry: playfulness, indeterminacy, and the erasure of hierarchies.

Definition

A late-20th-century literary mode characterised by self-reflexivity, pastiche, irony, and scepticism toward grand narratives.

Example

John Ashbery's 'Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror'; Language Poetry; conceptual poetics of Kenneth Goldsmith.

Related Terms

Modernism Pastiche Intertextuality Language Poetry