Postmodernism
A literary and cultural movement (roughly 1960s onward) characterised by scepticism toward grand narratives, playful parody, self-reflexive metafiction, intertextuality, and questioning of meaning and reality. Postmodernism builds on and critiques modernism.
Real World
Angela Carter's 'The Bloody Chamber' (1979) retells classic fairy tales like Bluebeard while openly mocking their conventions, making the reader aware they are reading a constructed story — a hallmark postmodern move that uses the original's form to dismantle its ideology.
Exam Focus
Distinguish clearly between modernism and postmodernism in essays: postmodernism's self-consciousness and irony are distinct moves, not just further experimentation.
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