Starting point

1965; we are now in the postmodern period.

Why then?

WWII made people doubt that Reason could solve humans’ problems.

Characteristics

• Reality is uncertain.
• The mind constructs (rather than mirrors) reality.
• Therefore, skepticism about knowledge.
• There is no transcendental signifier outside of language.  No capital “T” truth.  No ultimate principles.  Relativism.
• Pessimism about human life.
• Language’s uncertainty:  instability, indeterminacy, fragmentation.  Language is a sign system involving endless signification.

Effect on literary theory

Emphasis now on the inadequacy and instability of language (deconstruction) and on the reader/viewer’s participation in the creation of meaning.  A deconstructionist looks for contradictions in a text and for reversals of categories.

Literature

Disregard for literary traditions.  Often categories are mixed—e.g., high and low, ancient and modern.  Metafiction—the process by which a literary work calls attention to its fictionality.

View of authority

Traditional authorities yield to things like technology, consumerism, capitalism, globalization, etc.