Postmodernism is dead, and I’m not quite yet

Abstract

The article polemicizes about the state of Russian Postmodernist culture in general and the country’s Postmodernist literature, in particular. The author finds that contemporary culture exists at the intersection of two paradigms: a dwindling Postmodernism and a nascent Metamodernism, giving rise to new literary vectors and phenomena. Mass culture appropriates Postmodernist methods and techniques: irony, intertextuality, and play-mode rethinking of classical subjects and ideas. The author observes a transformation of Postmodernism into an assembly line for mass production and consumption. At the same time, Metamodernism inevitably becomes an alternative cultural paradigm. Analyzing the cultural situation, the author references works by the writer V. Pelevin (his novels Generation P, iPhuck 10), rapper poet Oxxxymiron (M. Fyodorov), and other prominent figures of modern Russian culture. The article’s major focus is on Postmodernist irony.