Postmodernism as the phonomenon of american culturein the second half of the XX century

Characteristic features of postmodernism

1. 
   The thematic level
   

The thematic level (thematization of ecological crisis, criticism of consumerism, appreciation of freedom and spontaneity, oriental vision of the world), but also in the changing nature and understanding of art and its form. Thus art started to be seen not as separated, but a part of reality and experience, art became closer to the public and was often presented in the form of show, happening or performance. ⁶ The Beats, for example, often wrote poems not for intimate reading at home, but they were often recited on public places (sport stadiums, concert halls) and accompanied by the pop, jazz, or rock bands and music (Bob Dylan, Rolling Stones). Also their poetry and fiction used irregular and open, often fragmented form as well as the rhythms of popular music such as blues, jazz and rock. Painters and sculptors presented their artistic works outside traditional galleries directly in the urban environment or in nature, sometimes not only un -artistic objects, but also living or dead animals or human beings became the artistic objects (see photography, visual arts, dead corps...). It does not, however, mean that the ethnic or other formerly marginalized authors (female, gay, lesbian) became postmodern only because of the thematization of this difference or because of their ethnic or sexual identity, or ecological crisis and consumerism. Civil right movement has enabled these authors to gain an access to education, science and publishing opportunities, but their work became postmodern because of their use of postmodern narrative techniques and the vision of the world.
2)Indeterminacy
The most important postmodern feature is indeterminacy. Nothing is certain: we cannot be certain about anything. This indeterminacy is also partly due to our sense of fragmentation. The seamless totality of the classical and the Christian worlds are lost to us. With the death of God, the world is fragmented; the society is fragmented; the family is fragmented; the process of fragmentation is an on -going process. In postmodernism, this is reflected in the breaking of forms, use of montage and collage and mixing of genres in an unexpected manner. Since post-modern culture is essentially mass culture, all canons are discredited. The traditional values are flouted; the culture is de- canonized. Art is trivialized and carnival zed. Postmodernism insisted on the pleasure of the moment and looked for things easy to like.
3)The idea of originality and authenticity is undermined
In postmodern literary text, the idea of originality and authenticity is undermined and parodied. Postmodern literary work does not pretend to be new and original, but uses the old literary forms, genres, and kinds of literature and art, kitsch, quotation, allusion and other means to recontextualize their meaning in a different linguistic and cultural contexts to show a difference between the past and present as well as between the past and present forms of representation as was mentioned in famous John Barth’s essay The Literature of Exhaustion in which he points out „an exhaustion” of the old forms of art and suggests a creative potential of the use of the old forms, genres and styles. ⁷ Postmodern authors intentionally build the meaning on the use not only of the old forms and genres, but also by a deliberate use of plagiarism, kitsch, false or pretended quotations from well-known literary and other texts (by false or pretended I mean the authors’ close imitation of the ideas or style of famous authors, works or philosophers without giving a bibliographical note). Plagiarism is not meant to “steal” the authors’ ideas, but to evoke a parody effect and an ironic distance from these texts. Some critics speak not about plagiarism, but pla(y)giarism in a postmodern literary work, that is a creative use and recontextualization of already existing texts through the use of techniques reminiscent of plagiarism (unjustified use of these texts) and their further modification by the use of linguistic and textual play.