The Afterlives of Modernism

[Philosophy Now]

Siobhan Lyons argues that modernist artistic values of sincere self-expression are culturally reasserting themselves.

https://philosophynow.org/issues/108/Th ... _Modernism

[Carter]

in 2011, Luke Turner and Hollywood actor Shia LaBeouf published The Metamodernist Manifesto, disavowing both modernism and postmodernism, and proclaiming: “We must liberate ourselves from the inertia resulting from a century of modernist ideological naïvety and the cynical insincerity of its antonymous bastard child.” Yet like many other self-invented cultural movements, metamodernism has not succeeded in dominating social thought.

Aside from the strange and some might say troubling link between Shia LaBeouf and modernism (it might just be me but the two seem ill-suited), I agree that there is currently such a proliferation of variations of modernism, one that the author might be interested in is Anti-modernism. Clearly there was something about modernism in particular that captured people's attention. And what have we now? I suppose that question is redundant.

[Carter]

Having journeyed through modernism and postmodernism, we wish to travel to the theory beyond, before this elusive new culture has even had time to solidify. In fact, today’s ism, if indeed there is one, appears to be an amalgamation of previous theories.

Too true. I particularly liked the inclusion of Zygmunt Bauman (and Derrida's dredging machine- the perfect metaphor!). But the above quote in particular reminds me of Ferris Bueller's thoughts on the subject: 'Isms in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an ism, he/she should believe in him/herself'. Could it be time to pull in the reins of any sort of defining ism whatsoever? Can we even imagine an ahistorical time? Very shrewd piece- I would like to see more from this author.