Who's Afraid of Postmodernism?Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? James K.A. Smith Baker Academic, 2006. 156 pp. Is the Devil from Paris? This is James K.A. Smith's opening question in his new book, Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? Smith sets out to challenge the common perception that postmodernism, an intellectual movement credited to twentieth-century French philosophers, is a force working against the institutions of Christianity and the Church. He parses the mantras of Derrida, Lyotard and Foucault, the fathers of postmodernism, and finds that their insights are not so much vituperative threats as constructive comments affording important points for theologians to consider. He shirks 'bumper-sticker understandings' of this triumvirate Triumvirate (trīŭm`vĭrĭt, –vĭrāt'), in ancient Rome, ruling board or commission of three men. Triumvirates were common in the Roman republic. of thinkers and encourages the dissection dissection /dis·sec·tion/ (di-sek´shun) 1. the act of dissecting. 2. a part or whole of an organism prepared by dissecting. of their ideas as one way to improve church life. Though some of his arguments are better than others, they make good sense of the problems postmodernism raises and addresses. Smith uses contemporary film to illustrate many of his examples, ranging from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest as an example of Foucault's conception of power roles to The Little Mermaid little mermaid the sacrifices her own life to save her beloved prince. [Dan. Lit.: Andersen’s Fairy Tales] See : Self-Sacrifice to help readers understand Derrida in a whimsical whim·si·cal adj. 1. Determined by, arising from, or marked by whim or caprice. See Synonyms at arbitrary. 2. Erratic in behavior or degree of unpredictability: a whimsical personality. way. Who's Afraid of Postmodernism? also reads in a pleasantly colloquial col·lo·qui·al adj. 1. Characteristic of or appropriate to the spoken language or to writing that seeks the effect of speech; informal. 2. Relating to conversation; conversational. vernacular, avoiding the bogs of technical language. |
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