Metamodernism

Metamodernism is a term that describes a way of thinking in academia that goes further than postmodernism. Metamodernism involves mixing modernist and postmodernist ideas, and sometimes even older, traditional ones. Metamodernists think that the negative approach of postmodernism of denying all ideas of truth is limited because it does not give a way forward much of the time. They also feel that the modernist idea of making new ideas has its benefits for being more optimistic than postmodernism. Metamodernists think the modernist ideas are not enough though, saying that postmodernism is useful as it keeps us alert. It is one of the ways to explain what comes after postmodernism.

Imagine a swing going back and forth. That's how some people think about metamodernism. It moves between the serious feelings of modernism and the sarcastic feelings of postmodernism. Others, like philosopher Jason Storm, say that metamodernism is not a swing going back and forth, but a spiral which spirals upwards. Jason Storm said that postmodernism is more like a spiral which goes downwards. That means that rather than criticising ideas (postmodernism), building on them while also criticising them (metamodernism).

Metamodernists choose to swing back and forth between modernism and postmodernism This is to avoid the negative aspects of either getting in the way of progress. For example, they might cause people to not listen to each other.

In short, metamodernism is a way of thinking and creating that mixes and moves between being alert and being heartfelt, trying to understand and express the complex and connected world we live in today.

Early Ideas

The word "metamodern" first popped up in 1975 with Mas'ud Zavarzadeh, talking about new ways of writing stories in America. Over the years, different people used "metamodern" to describe new art and literature that mixed modernism and postmodernism.

Back in 2002, Linda Hutcheon said we needed a new name for what was coming after postmodernism. She felt postmodernism was ending and challenged people to find a new name for the current cultural phase.

Examples

In 2010, Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker wrote about metamodernism. Vermeulen and van den Akker are considered two of the main thinkers of metamodernism. They noticed a mix of old and new ideas in culture, like a swing between hope and sarcasm. They thought of metamodernism as a mix of old and new feelings, like being both naive and smart at the same time. They listed lots of examples in their work like the architecture of Herzog & de Meuron, the films of David Lynch, and art by Bas Jan Ader, Peter Doig, Olafur Eliasson, Kaye Donachie, Charles Avery, and Ragnar Kjartansson.

Some filmmakers have started using the word to explain the films they are making. One example is the oscar-winning film Everything Everywhere All at Once, where the directors The Daniels said they wanted to make a metamodern film. In the film, they achieve this by writing a story about a mom and daughter pair who are struggling, showing how they try to solve tensions between old and a new ways of thinking and living in the modern world.