The Pathologies of Modernity:Liberalism,Nihilism,Conservatism,Postmodernism,Intersectionality/Identity Politics,and Secular Humanism

In this article,Mocombe highlights what he calls the pathological-pathogenic purposive-rationalities(liberalism,nihilism,conservatism,postmodernism,intersectionality/identity politics,and secular humanism)that emerge out of modernity as constituted by the West under American hegemony.In the place of these pathological-pathogenic responses to the vagaries of modernity,Mocombe calls for an antihumanism,associated with what he calls libertarian communism,as a panacea to the aforementioned malaises.

Reflections on the Cultural Ecology of University Classrooms in the Perspective of Postmodernism

The cultural ecology of university classroom has been influenced by postmodernism and has shown complex and variable characteristics.Specifically speaking,it tends to be both conflicting and interactive in terms of subject relations in the classroom,fragmented and diversified in terms of classroom teaching,and redundant and dynamic in terms of classroom assessment.In order to further harmonize and develop the cultural ecology of university classrooms,it is necessary to expand the space for communication and interaction between teachers and students,improve the overall professional quality of faculty members,and perfect the management and assessment system for university teachers and students.

Postmodernism and Mass Media

Postmodernism is defined firstly on the analysis of both the divergence and correlation among the concepts of modernism,modernity and postmodernity.Mass media is chosen as a study case because postmodernism can find a complete reflection in it while the development of mass media will consolidate the postmodern thought.They're interweaving in many ways.

“Anti-hero”Feature of Black Humor in Postmodernism Literary Fiction:with“Yossarian”in Catch-22 as an Example

Yossarian is the hero in Catch-22 written by Joseph Heller in 1961,bearing the typical"anti-hero"feature of Black Humor in postmodernism literary fiction.This paper aims at giving some of the examples to make readers clearer of the Black Humor and more familiar with the"anti-hero"feature of Black Humor in postmodernism literary fiction.

从Postmodernism一词的误译试论对其理论的再解读

Postmodernism一词在中国知识界大红大紫已近十年有余了 ,然而该词的中文译名“后现代主义”却纯属误译 ,这其中的原因既有翻译方面的 ,又有对Postmod ernism理论的误解 ,因此 ,我们确有对Postmodernism一词重译和对其理论再解读的必要 ,而现今有关Postmodernism理论的最新研究成果 ,为我们实现这一重译和再读提供了可能性。本文试图揭示Postmodernism理论的要义就是消解本体论 ,它是一种以双谴思维方式为其表征的方法论。为了更清晰地把握这一理论实质 ,文章还援引了大乘佛教般若中观理论作为参照。

Twilight:An Extraordinary Treasure of Gothic-postmodernism

In the current climate of literary experimentalism,'Gothic' may seem to some,an anachronistic term. Having spent most of the nineties as a buzz-word in literature and culture,its haunting presence appears to have faded somewhat. With the end of TV serials such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel and the current lack of interest in the so-called Gothic images that used to inundate media and popular culture,the question arises yet again as to what significance the Gothic bears for contemporary literature?Importantly,what remains to be taken into account by such critics is the presence of fundamental Gothic elements in literary postmodernist texts. By this,I refer to works definable under the paradigm of postmodernism; experimental,radical and often metalfictional literature which problematises the relationship between reality and fiction,reader and text. The purpose of this article is to fill this gap in literary criticism by proposing a theoretical approach to postmodernist texts that are definitively Gothic.

Kabbalah Logic and Semantic Foundations for a Postmodern Fuzzy Set and Fuzzy Logic Theory

Despite half a century of fuzzy sets and fuzzy logic progress, as fuzzy sets address complex and uncertain information through the lens of human knowledge and subjectivity, more progress is needed in the semantics of fuzzy sets and in exploring the multi-modal aspect of fuzzy logic due to the different cognitive, emotional and behavioral angles of assessing truth. We lay here the foundations of a postmodern fuzzy set and fuzzy logic theory addressing these issues by deconstructing fuzzy truth values and fuzzy set membership functions to re-capture the human knowledge and subjectivity structure in membership function evaluations. We formulate a fractal multi-modal logic of Kabbalah which integrates the cognitive, emotional and behavioral levels of humanistic systems into epistemic and modal, deontic and doxastic and dynamic multi-modal logic. This is done by creating a fractal multi-modal Kabbalah possible worlds semantic frame of Kripke model type. The Kabbalah possible worlds semantic frame integrates together both the multi-modal logic aspects and their Kripke possible worlds model. We will not focus here on modal operators and axiom sets. We constructively define a fractal multi-modal Kabbalistic L-fuzzy set as the central concept of the postmodern fuzzy set theory based on Kabbalah logic and semantics.

Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist as a Postmodern Text

Literature has witnessed the appearance of many movements and approaches throughout the history.After World War II,particularly in the 1960s,postmodernism has come to surface and as an up-to-date movement,many eminent critics and cultural historians have turned their concerns and attention to it.This study examines the concept of postmodernism and it explores its main characteristics that appear in Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist(1986).

The Rebel Madame: Madonna’s Postmodern Revolution

The aim is to examine Madonna’s revolution regarding gender,sexuality,politics,and religion with the focus on her songs,videos,and live performances.The main argument indicates that Madonna has used postmodern strategies of representation to challenge the foundational truths of sex and gender,promote gender deconstruction and sexual multiplicity,create political sites of resistance,question the Catholic dissociation between the physical and the divine,and bring visual and musical influences from multiple cultures and marginalized identities.

Postmodern Society and Tourism

The purpose of this paper is to indicate that in today＇s circumstances of time and space compression, diversification of the tourism product, and diversity and multiplicity of tourist experiences, it is necessary to move away from the traditional typologically rigid and narrow theoretical framework towards more flexible conceptualisations. The paper brings a theoretical overview of theorists who have been meritorious for such a shift of opinion and associated with the emergence of the postmodern thought in the contemporary tourism theory. The abandonment of tourist typologies, the shift of attention towards the existential authenticity, and the admittance that tourism is a multisensory and physical experience bear witness to the recent theoretical shift in the study of the tourist experience which stresses the importance of the individual and his/her role in the tourist industry. New forms of tourism have been emerging, which have the potential to replace or at least change the already existing forms and fundamental tourism structures. A new type of tourism demand has significantly changed the nature of tourism offer. The alterations in the tourism offer and demand and the mere nature of the tourism product are usually associated with the concept of the post-tourist. By focusing on the effects of increasing mobilities of people and objects and new ways of sensing a touristic world, this work is a contribution to new directions in tourism analysis providing an account of various tourists＇ performances that help to constitute tourist destinations.

Postmodern Public Space Our Destiny

The treatise attempts at a philosophical analysis of the category-----public area. It points out the dissension between the traditional and postmodern definition of this conception and the consequences resulting from these different attitudes. As far as the methodology is concerned, the study is based on J. F. Lyotard, presenting the postmodern approach as a greater contribution. In postmodern public area, we can meet two basic types of dissentions, while only the first of them can be solved by further grow of specialization and the expert likes to know.

＂The Closest Thing to God＂： Post-industrialization and Postmodernism in Tawni O＇Dell＇s Coal Run

A growing body of American literature examines the conditions in towns from the Midwest to the Northeast that have been drastically affected by the condition of what has been termed ＂deindustrialization＂. These towns have witnessed the employee downsizing and the eventual collapse of their major industries, such as automobile manufacturing and coal mining, and the fiction about them--termed ＂deindustrialization literature＂ by Sherry Lee Linkon--explores how the affected generations cope with these changed circumstances. The novel Coal Run, written in 2004 by Tawni O＇Dell＇s, herself a native of a coal mining region in Western Pennsylvania, is one such example of deindustrialization literature and the focus of this essay. Set in a coal mining town that has been shut down because of a Centralia-like uncontrolled mine fire that opens fissures to a literal kind of hell, the protagonist, Ivan the Great, a former Penn State football star, and other characters attempt to re-orient themselves after the mine---described by Ivan as ＂the closest thing I had to God＂--closes and the effects of that closing are felt. This paper discusses the motifs of ecological ruin, economic disruption, and personal, familial, and community disorientation in the novel. In doing so, the paper considers connections between de- or post-industrialization and postmodernism, particularly as discussed by cultural geographer David Harvey in The Condition of Postmodernity in terms of ＂the crisis tendency＂ of capitalism toward ＂overaccumulation＂ and the ＂link between postmodernism and...more flexible modes of capital accumulation＂. The paper goes on to consider the experiences through which the novel＇s characters learn to look to the future in ways that may be said to coincide with the ethos of much postmodern American fiction that sets less ambitious but nonetheless still meaningful expectations for human being.

One Kind of Reality： Mapping out Chinese ＂Postmodernism＂

This paper outlines the literary context and developments in post-1980s China, and seeks to map out Chinese postmodernism. It discusses the problematic existence of ＂Chinese postmodernism＂ by taking into account the more general postmodernity of Chinese society. The result is a view of postmodernism that is flexible, critical, historically and culturally situated and ethically sensitive without being dogmatic or propagandistic. This in turn will offer a basis for further study of ＂postmodernisms＂ as they have developed both in the countries of the concept＇s origin and elsewhere

Organizational Leadership in a Postmodern World： Practical Implications for Contemporary Religious Leaders

We live in an increasingly postmodern society. American Christianity, however, is imbued in a modem---even pre-modern--paradigm. As a result, many contemporary religious leaders find it difficult to communicate with their postmodern constituents, as evidenced by declining attendance rates and religious affiliation. The present study explores this dilemma by offering potential implications for contemporary religious leaders to communicate more effectively with emerging/emergent generation（s）. The author begins this exploration, first, by outlining the philosophical tenants of postmodemism： its epistemological, ontological, and axiological assumptions. Second, the author delineates several key characteristics of postmodern religious communication. Next, the author offers three practical implications for organizational leaders： （1） increased use of personal narrative, （2） removal of hierarchal boundary structures, and （3） increased awareness and appreciation for divergent perspectives. The author concludes this study with directions for future research.

Irony and Restructuring: Greig’s Postmodern Rewrite of Macbeth

Dunsinane is a postmodern rewrite adapted from William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth by David Greig.This article mainly deals with the problem that specifically,how Dunsinane is rewritten from Macbeth.The article firstly analyzes from rhetorical perspective that irony,the frequently-used literary device in Macbeth is also a prominent rhetorical strategy of rewriting in Dunsinane.The restructuring of the characters Macbeth,Malcolm and Siward from Scottish perspectives as well as the the restructured theme behind the rewrite are also introduced.

Analysis on the Influence of the Postmodernism Ideological Trend on Fashion Design

Post-modernism began to rise in the mid 20th century, and also rapidly played an influence on the cultures of all the countries in the world. Its combination with the design of art in the development process has brought about a new idea for the aesthetic appreciation of people. The combination of postmodernism with fashion design was mainly reflected in sublation. This has exerted a profound influence on the development of fashion design, which is demonstrated in design theme, design idea, and design methods. In this paper, this is introduced from the concept and characteristics of postmodernism, the influence of postmodernism on fashion design, and the reflection of postmodernism in fashion design. It is found that the post-modernism ideological trend plays a certain role in promoting fashion design.

Filling in the Blank: a Postmodern Experiment on Fiction and Human Existence

In his short story collection Lost in the Funhouse, John Barth attempts to deal with the existential plights that fictional writing and human beings are faced with."Title", the most postmodern story in the collection, centers on the issue of"filling in the blank,"in which Barth leads readers to solve the problem and create the story with him. To examine Barth's postmodern experiment in"Title", this paper mainly focuses on the following three questions: what is the"blank"? How to fill in it? Why to fill in it in that way? By answering them, we may see how Barth reconciles the conflict between the urgency of"filling in the blank"and the failure of filling them.

Good or Bad? : Learning Globalization, Postmodernity and a Changing China Education System

Under the setting of globalization, in the late 1970s, China began to carry out 'the reform and opening-up policy'. During 30 years reform process, Chinese economy has a great growth. The 'market mechanism' and its effectiveness were adopted by Chinese people. With the deep reform of health system, Chinese government delegates more decision-making power to the hospitals, thus 'in employment terms, as two of largest industries (health and education) in every country' (Meadmore P. 1999 p.91), the reform of education has become a hot topic in social debate. In other words, in the field of education in China today, marketization of education is highly focused, causing concerns of various social classes: What are the reforms? What are the results reforms bring about? On exploring the effects of globalization on Chinese education in modernity and presenting advantages and disadvantages in the process of the 'market mechanism' working in and through education to reconsider a market education system creates an external competition for public schools.

Analysis of the Postmodern Narrative Features in Lighthousekeeping

The paper illustrates the postmodern narrative techniques in Jeanette Winterson's Lighthousekeeping mainly from the non-linear structure,meta-narrative strategy and unreliable narration.Non-linear narrative mode is a use of the disorder of the plot and time,which can achieve certain effects conceived by the author;the meta-narrative oversets the traditional novel models and norms,challenges the reliability and authenticity of the story,and demonstrates the illusory nature of the novel;unreliable narration,which performs a function of irony,can provoke thoughts on the content or the themes of the novel.

Meaning in Architecture and Landscape Architecture: Enhancement of Contemporary Design Practices Based on the Review of Postmodernism and Surrealism Aesthetic Philosophies

The study explored surrealist aesthetic philosophies in relation with referential postmodern architecture,and landscape architecture,to communicate meaning with the audience.These philosophies provide lessons about the potential of the built environment to address the emotional and psychological needs of the public,that is,to address the vital social,ecological,and functional needs of modern society.According to this,the purpose of the study was two-fold.The first is to analyze the visual techniques and forms that are used in referential postmodern architecture and landscape architecture in relation with surrealist aesthetic philosophies,to communicate meaning with the audience.Second is to demonstrate the relevance of these visual theories,to enhance contemporary design practices.The study emphasized the potential of art forms that provide meaning to address the physiological and spiritual needs of the society.Hence,it re-established landscape architecture as an art form capable of enriching human psychological and spiritual well-being,which is opposed to the conservative utilitarian natures of the field.