Postmodernism, in contrast, disavows modernism's notions of uniqueness, self-invention, and interiority. If modernism relies heavily on an "expressivist" model of the self, postmodernism relies equally strongly on a "surface" model that describes the self as a collection of surfaces colored by and reflecting their environment. Indeed, postmodernism asserts that an individual does not have a single self at all, but rather many different selves, each one defined by the way in which it responds to a certain stimulus present in the individual's surroundings.
Stephen Frosh emphasizes the subversive tone of much postmodern thought, contrasting it with modernism's "illusion of selfhood," which "bolsters the dominant order by allowing appeals to unchanging human nature and by locating the sources of potential resistance [to hegemonizing social norms] and, hence, responsibility within the individual." The general tone of postmodernism, however, indicates that "individuality is so permeated by sociality that there is no way of resisting on an individual level at all" (277). The resistance he describes is an attempt to create lasting and shared meaning that defies "detailed analysis of the separate moment in time and space, and of the specificity of the position from which that analysis arises" (278).
Paradoxically, postmodernism seems concerned above all with breaking down the universality of received knowledge--in effect, calling attention to the subjectivity of all truth-claims and master narratives--while simultaneously arguing for the incapacity of the individual for self-representation. Lacking an inner depth or "treasure chest" with which to lend signs their unique referential meanings, the postmodern individual communicates using a system of simulacra (to use Jean Beaudrillard's term) in which the values assigned to objects refer only to other values--a system made up of "models of a real without origin or reality" (Beaudrillard 521). In spite of the individual's flat, reflective, surface-driven character, however, attempts to create systematic and all-encompassing accounts of human experience are compromised by the limitations of the individual's own understanding and (sometimes subconscious) political agendas. Thus the postmodern self is identified and distinguished through a rejection of shared truths' dependence on universalities of human experience; at the same time, it is
and made powerless by an inescapable system of communication whose signs and identifiers cannot be traced to a single origin or source in unique individuals. In a postmodern world, uniqueness and interiority are precluded.
Beaudrillard, Jean. "The Precession of Simulacra." Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks. Ed. Meenakshi Gigi Durham and Douglas M. Kellner. Malden, MA and Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Inc., 2002. 521-549.
Frosh, Stephen. "Social Experience and the Constructed Self. English 495 handout. Ed. Laura Mandell. Miami University: Fall 2002. 271-286.
