The Impact of Post-Modernism

While science and technology advance culture, art documents and reflects it. This is a standard philosophy of art and is widely accepted among practitioners. In the field of Communication, specifically theatre, the modern movement began in 1875 with the acting teacher Stanislavski, and playwrights such as Ibsen, Chekhov, and Strindberg. These playwrights specialized in a new form of theatre called Realism. Had it not been for Freud, and his introduction of psychology, the modern movement may have never happened. After 1875, for the first time, society was seeing art that truly reflected human beings. Realism became the new movement. Thirty years later, the post-modern movement would begin and it continues through present day.

New styles that represented a “departure from realism” were developed. These styles were still based on the concepts of psychology but reflected the subconscious more than the conscious. Surrealism, Existentialism, Futurism, Dadaism, Expressionism, and Naturalism all took the stage and played their role in reflecting the way we thought and functioned. Eventually, the eclectics emerged. These practitioners basically borrowed from many different styles and philosophies and arrived at their own conclusions.

Knowing this, it’s impossible to think that we are not living in a post-modern world. All of our best business practices are based on the foundations of modern theory and influenced by post-modern thinking. We are all eclectics. While we may subscribe to Realist, Expressionist, or Existentialist philosophies, we rarely consider ourselves to be pure practitioners of any one of these philosophies. As human beings, our thought process is much too complex to operate or subscribe to a single theory.

However, two problems arise when discussing modern vs. post-modern. In order to operate effectively in a post-modern world, one must first understand the foundations of modernism. In other words, if you are going to break the rules, you must first know what the rules are. There are many who see themselves as post-modernists without a real understanding of what they are doing. This sometimes results in unfortunate mistakes. I am a huge advocate of theory. I feel it should be a part of all curriculum's. The foundations are important.

The second problem that arises when discussing post-modernism in our time is reflection. It is impossible to truly analyze the impact that contemporary choices have on society. For example, we may propose theories concerning the impact that social media, technology, and politics have on early 21^st century society, but these theories won’t be truly realized until future generations have the proper distance for reflection.

So, by definition, we are living in a post-modern world. The impact of this is unclear. All we can do is work to understand its principles and operate accordingly.