What to look for when identifying the postmodernism era of literature:
Key Points of postmodernist literature
- Parody, irony, and narrative instability often inform the tone.
- Allusions are just as likely to be made to popular culture as they are to classical learning.
- Strict binary concepts (hot and cold; black and white) often collapse.
- Ideas that spread across a spectrum predominate.
- There is no real center.
- The surface is often more interesting to post modern artists than any ideas of depth.
Key Points of postmodernist literature
- The label "postmodern" is often rejected by the majority of artists labeled as such.
- Smaller contingents (sub-movements) exist from the same time period but they often conflict with the general beliefs of other "postmodernists"