ABSTRACT
The idea of Postmodernism is clearly a vast subject. It might be useful for us, however, to recognize the contested nature of the term. Postmodernism has been the subject of great debate over the last two decades; it is itself a dialogic word with various negative and positive connotations. For many theorists and critics, the postmodern era can seem one in which reproduction takes over from authentic production. Many positive accounts of Postmodernism, in fact, refer to the fact that Modernism's belief that technological innovation could be harnessed by art, and that it offered the prospect of an ideal cultural future, have proved groundless. The lists seem to posit Modernism and Postmodernism as antithetical to each other, whilst the reality, as theorists such as Jencks have suggested, is that Postmodernism remains complicit with many of the forms and theories which characterized Modernism and allows itself to utilize Modernism's major styles, genres and innovations.
