Mamta Kalia

Thus his post-modernism gives up
language’s representational function and
argues that language constitutes, rather
than represents/ reflects the world and
knowledge is, therefore, always distorted
by language that consists of a set of
‘signifiers’ that do not give access to
reality. To him, western philosophy
largely rests on binary opposites like
truth-falsity, unity-diversity, manwoman
etc whereby the former is
considered superior to the latter. But
at present symbols have become more
important than the message they carry,
hence binary distinctions between science
and ideology, reason and rhetoric,
essence and sembalance become blurred
due to apparent reality created by mass
media.
Thus from above, it is crystal clear
that there are several streams/routes
of post-modernism. However, its
following tenets may be considered
common to most of these streams:
a) language constitutes, rather than
represents, the reality of the life
world;
b) the autonomous subject of
modernity is replaced by a postmodern
agent whose identity is
largely other- determined and
always in process;
c) there are no final, universal,
homogeneous, uniform and
permanent truths;
d) there are several meanings (due
to difference in culture),
80 :: April-June 2010
independent of author’s intention,
depending on the reader’s
interpretations of text through
deconstruction;
e) there is no objective, scientific
grand/meta narrative, rather
binary opposition between science
and narrative is no more present
in social life world; western
science is Eurocentric and ignores
indigenous knowledge systems of
developing countries;
f) Mode of production has given
way to the mode of cultural
reproduction (i.e. signs, images,
media), hence economy’s central
place in modernity is challenged
and ‘decentering’ is required;
g) Knowledge counts only within
a given power structure;
h) It gives importance to local
specificity, difference, diversity,
plurality and multiculturalism. It
questions the state politics of
modernity.
But on a critical examination of post–
modernism, I find the following demerits
in post-modernism:
First, though post-modernism rightly
questions economic determinism
postulated by Marxism’s mainstream, it,
too, suffers from cultural determinism
as it ultimately gives culture the central
place in society and thus its conception
of multipolarity is lost.
Second, due to its rejection of
scientific knowledge and universal grand