Metamodernism

 

some examples of metamodern sensibility include:

  • Films by Charlie Kaufman, Wes Anderson, Miranda July, Alejandro González Iñárritu, Lord & Miller, and Leos Carax
  • Music by Donald Glover, History Of Guns, Bill Callahan, Janelle Monáe, and Future Islands
  • Novels by David Foster Wallace, Zadie Smith, and Roberto Bolaño
  • TV shows such as Parks and Recreation, Breaking Bad, BoJack Horseman, Brass Eye and Last Week Tonight

Metamodernism doesn’t have to be scary! Here’s a good example of how it’s used in popular American cinema by Lord & Miller:

“The one place Gods inarguably exist is in our minds where they are real beyond refute, in all their grandeur and monstrosity.” – Alan Moore

Metamodernist manifesto by Luke Turner: http://www.metamodernism.org/

definition

Metamodernism is a cultural philosophy that describes the current structure of feeling in society and culture, and is considered by some to be a move beyond postmodernism:
A state of being
Metamodernism is a state of being that exists between and beyond irony and sincerity, naivety and knowingness, relativism and truth, and optimism and doubt.
A way of viewing the world
Metamodernism is a way of viewing the world that emphasizes integrated pluralism. It’s a philosophy that includes ideas about ontology, epistemology, aesthetics, and ethics.
A move away from postmodernism
Metamodernism is a move away from the cynicism and irony of postmodernism, and towards a desire for constructive and sincere expression and progression.
A creative space
Metamodernism is a creative space where different genres can lean against each other to create a “bigger space” for new feelings.
A descriptive rather than prescriptive philosophy
Metamodernism is descriptive rather than prescriptive, and is an inclusive way to articulate ongoing developments.

 

What is real?

Many Worlds theory

History Of Guns create worlds which they claim to be no less real or valid than the currently shared spacetime elements which make up consensus reality. 

In an increasingly nonsensical post-truth meaningless world, one method of survival is to create your own world. Your own truth. Your own meaning. One that it worth living for, that no one can take away from you. 

  • Imagine an idealised version of yourself and journey towards it.
  • Imagine an idealised version of society and journey towards it.
  • Imagine an idealised version of reality and journey towards it. 
  • Live by example. Be the change you want to see. 
  • Find and reject all the unhelpful poison other people put in your head.
  • If visited by the Arcadians, listen to what they have to say. 

“I do my thing and you do your thing.
I am not in this world to live up to your expectations,
And you are not in this world to live up to mine.
You are you, and I am I,
and if by chance we find each other, it’s beautiful.
If not, it can’t be helped.”

— Fritz Perls, “Gestalt Therapy Verbatim”, 1969
“Postmodern irony and cynicism’s become an end in itself, a measure of hip sophistication and literary savvy. Few artists dare to try to talk about ways of working toward redeeming what’s wrong, because they’ll look sentimental and naive to all the weary ironists. Irony’s gone from liberating to enslaving. There’s some great essay somewhere that has a line about irony being the song of the prisoner who’s come to love his cage…. The postmodern founders’ patricidal work was great, but patricide produces orphans, and no amount of revelry can make up for the fact that writers my age have been literary orphans throughout our formative years.”
– David Foster Wallace