After developing for thirty years as a movement in the arts,
after being disputed and celebrated, Post-Modernism has become
an integral part of the cultural landscape. In this witty
overview, Charles Jencks, the first to write a book defining the
subject, argues that the movement is one more reaction from
within modernism critical of its shortcomings. The unintended
consequences of modernisation, such as the terrorist debacle and
global warming, are typical issues motivating a Critical Modern
response today. In a unique analysis, using many explanatory
diagrams and graphs, he reveals the evolutionary, social and
economic forces of this new stage of global civilisation.
Critical Modernism emerges at two levels. As an underground
movement, it is the fact that many modernisms compete, quarrel
and criticise each other as they seek to become dominant.
Secondly, when so many of these movements follow each other
today in quick succession, they may reach a ‘critical mass,’ a
Modernism2, and become a conscious traditi