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In the very beginning of the article, the author states that he feels there is no exact definition of what post-modernity is, so the fact that all of these controversies and conflictions between people about what is or isn't postmodern is no surprise to him. However, he thinks that defining what is simply a characteristic of post-modernity, is a relatively exact science. For this article, he decides to give a few examples of what a postmodern characteristic is, in general, and then goes right into how these characteristics can be applied to dance and how the institution of dance has developed over the years. Some of the general characteristics are of post-modernity are self-referencing, mocking, ironic, parody, and a mixture of "high art" and "low art". Some of the characteristics of post-modernity as applied specifically to dance are vernacular movement and dress, more emphasis on image, and less on plot, and a mixing of genres. This article is great because it is a short read, but there is a lot of very helpful information compacted into a little space so none of your energy and time will go to waste.

This is an article which defines seven different characteristics of postmodernity. The wording helps readers to be able to understand and not become frustrated, as postmodernity is a large and sometimes confusing topic. The characteristics are on a general basis not necessarily individual yet still capture the large, important, and most obvious components to this period of time that we are currently living in and trying to understand. The article also notes that many readers will only relate to some of the characteristics and not all and that is okay, making the article an even easier read knowing there is room for disagreement or change.

The video "What is Postmodernism" begins by asking people on the street "what is postmodernism?" Many average people had no clue how to define it which is quite common. Later the video presents various scholars and their views on what postmodernism is which gives a great montage of definitions and perspectives. This video attempts to answer questions such as "how has postmodernism affected our culture?", "what is postmodernism?" And "how the turn of the century has affected our culture and in turn led to postmodernity?" The video also discusses the religious impacts of postmodernism, something that many articles fail to discuss although religion is always a pressing issue. Another interesting topic this video discusses is the topic of modern and postmodern medicine. All in all, despite being only 4 minutes and 7 seconds long, this video is very beneficial in gaining insight into what exactly postmodernity is by pointing out general characteristics and specific characteristics of the postmodern movement.

The art and popular culture encyclopedia's article on postmodern architecture is valuable when trying to gain insight into what defines postmodernity. "Postmodern Architecture" begins by defining postmodernity, and explaining that as with many cultural movements, it's "most visible ideas can be seen architecture". This article not only gives examples of postmodern architecture but explains the architecture's relevance to postmodernity. By explaining postmodernism architecture's relationship, or moreover, contrast to previous styles of architecture, the authors have also explained an implied contrast to previous aspects of culture, art, and philosophy. The article also focuses on the aims and characteristics of postmodernism as a whole and postmodernism as seen in architecture. Furthermore, the authors give background information as well as detailed information of Robert Venturi, a frontrunner of the postmodern architectural movement. The foremost campaigner of the rebellion against modern architecture, Venturi's architecture possesses almost each and every characteristic of postmodern architecture, making him a prime example.

this one too http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/asp/theory/theories/4/concept_2.htm

The site recognizes the inability to truly label a period in which you live and how many different eras have thought themselves modern. Highlights of the modern era are noted as well as the aspect of impressionism, expressionism, surrealism, and absurdism in literature. There is also a list of characteristics of modern literature very clearly describing much to do with classifying a work as modern. Characteristics of postmodernity are then also listed comparing it to modernism and stating what is different. The overall information that the site gives helps readers differentiate what separates the two types of literature in an understandable format.

The article "Postmodernism in Poetry" starts off by giving you a little history of the idea of postmodernism as applied to poetry by saying that it began in the sixties, when there developed on both sides of the Atlantic a feeling that poetry had become too ossified, backward-looking and restrained. Next, the article delves into the 4 characteristics of postmodernism which the author feels are most relevant to poetry, iconoclasm, groundlessness, formlessness, and populism. Finally, a very detailed explanation as to why all four of these characteristics are important for poetry is given. At the very end, a list of about 15 authors who are considered to be postmodern poets is given. Personally, I feel that this is very important because it is hard to determine what is or isn't postmodern, so having a list of authors is helpful for someone who wants to be sure that they are reading postmodern poetry.

This article goes into detail regarding Post Modern thought in Poetry. Citing a backlash of the overly-processed, restrained poetry dating before the 1960s, Post Modern poetry was a backlash. Post Modernity has little to no boundaries, it makes sense to see it occur in Poetry, which also can come in many different forms. Poetry can be extremely structured or rambling and incoherent. It is described as "free-wheeling creations constructed of a language that largely points to itself." There are four aspects of Post Modern Poetry listed within. Iconoclasm, groundlessness, formlessness and populism. A sub-category under Iconoclasm would be "contradicts the expected, often deliberately alienating the reader." Nothing better than feeling alienated when one is reading what is written to be read. Also "subverts its sources by parody, irony and pastiche" and "denounces ethnic, gender and cultural repression." Groundlessness includes "regards both art and life as fictions, sometimes mixing the two in magic realism or multiple endings" and "argues that meaning is indeterminate, denying a final or preferred interpretation." Many scholars would love the idea of multiple endings, while getting headaches from the fact that there may not being one single interpretation. Formlessness includes aspects of poetry that have been seen many times lately, "fragments texts, turning them into collages or montages." Populism is what makes these forms appealing to the masses. These poems reject elite thoughts, and often focus on ideas that go across a wide spectrum. It "avoids the serious and responsible, promoting the arbitrary and playful."

"Gattaca" (1997) is a movie that, to me, exemplifies several postmodern features. The link is to the Wikipedia page about the movie and gives a detailed synopsis. The movie deals with the idea of genetic engineering. In "a not-too-distant future" all discrimination upon race, gender and religion will be forgotten, and thanks to scientific advances, people will only be judged upon their genes. This is a postmodern idea that depicts the importance of surface appearance, and not depth and meaning. In the movie, the main character goes for an interview, which surprisingly to him consisted only of a simple blood test. The company did not care about his personality or goals or past education like a normal interview, only about his genes and any risks of diseases. Since race is no longer an issue, "Gattaca" also contains the postmodern characteristic of disunity of nationalities and ethnicity. Instead, the only thing that decides who you associate with, work with, and even marry, are your genes and weather or not you were genetically engineered (which is more valued).

This "fail" video also displays characteristics of postmodernity. Most fail videos are of people falling down or hurting themselves, but this one shows a very private moment between a son and mother "discussing" god. Just as the video reaches a high point of intensity, and you think the mother is going to really get angry and maybe violent, the maker of the movie cuts away to a cat playing a peppy piano tune. This is very ironic and, as the Modern and Postmodern: Contrasting Tendencies chart would call it, a direct challenge "to official seriousness", or the discussion of "is there a god?". It could also be postmodern because the mother plays right into the idea of surface value over depth: she thinks telling her son that he can't get Christmas presents will some how change his mind. If you look below at the comments, this one video spurred a discussion between (one must assume) strangers who only know each other by there screen-names, but are having a calm discussion about religion themselves, compared to the heated discussion in the video.

The above exert gives an interesting theory on how the postmodern era and economy are parallel to that of the Middle Ages. One of the points made is the lack of authority and control. "The Middle Ages lacked the singular relationship between authority and territory characteristic of the modern era; geographic location did not determine identity and loyalty (Hirst and Thompson, 1995; Spruyt, 1994) . Overlapping and competing political authorities were the norm rather than the exception (Kobrin 12)." This is similar to the current economy existing on the internet. It is possible to buy basically anything from dvds to drugs on the internet and the government has no way of controlling it. In modern times, the only way to buy something was from a store. Now with the world wide web, it is possible to buy everything on the internet, even weekly groceries or a couch from India. The exert also discusses the idea of how "the clear separation between the private and public realms and the very idea of distinct private and public property may be tied to a specific, perhaps exceptional, historical era. The distinction was not relevant in pre-modern times and it may not be relevant in the postmodern future (Kobrin 25)." I think this applies well to global digital postmodernism if you consider the pictures on the web and all the information available to the masses.

In the beginning of this article, the author gives a little background as to how postmodernism has emerged, she feels, starting in the 1980's. She thinks that the very general term of Postmodernism is hard to define, because it is a concept that appears in a wide variety of disciplines or areas of study, including art, architecture, music, film, literature, sociology, communications, fashion, and technology. She feels that there cannot be just one definition to the term "postmodernism", and that there needs to be separate definitions for each discipline. Next, she tells you that she thinks the easiest way of trying to think about postmodernism, and what it really is, is by simply thinking of it as coming after modernism. After that, she tells you some of the basic characteristics of postmodernism, specifically as applied to literature, and makes it relatively easy to understand.

This article, written by John Barth, goes into much detail about what modernism is, what postmodernism is, and how we are shifting from modernism to postmodernism. He explains to you how he kind of disagrees with the whole idea of modernism as a whole as applied to fiction. He thinks that there is no clear definition for the term postmodernism and for the characteristics of postmodernist fiction in this era, and some scholars claim that postmodernism is the extension or the opposition of modernism in a way. In this essay, John Barth shows his disagreement with this notion, and at the same time he also points out his liking of some qualities of literature of the last century. Towards the end, there is a helpful chart which shows some of the most obvious, and direct, differences between modernity and post-modernity.

This website involves a group of categories of how post modernism has influenced the arts, from architecture to literature and music and even political science. It shows that post modernism is not just a made up word but rather a style which is to be perfected, even if it means being imperfect as some things are. The website even discusses how post modernity is affecting language, where "the changing relationship between diction and discourse" is influenced by what is considered post modern. Then it discusses art and how its aims to upset and recreate the fundamentals of what makes something art. This is a general principle of post modernity because in most cases anything that is considered post modern goes against the grain of what is considered within the set standards of its category and this website does an excellent job of describing the characteristics it breaks down.