Modern and Postmodern ---- A Brief History of Western Art and Culture

Author: He Qing
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-03-01
Features: This book is divided into two parts: Modernism and Postmodernism. The author summarizes "modernity" as five characteristics: anthropocentrism, progressivism, individualism, the cult of the "new," and non- thematic tendencies (in modern art), while "postmodernism" is a questioning and rejection of "modernity," representing an extreme reaction to it. The book aims to argue that the "modernity" principles pioneered by the Enlightenment have led the West into a profound crisis, hence the turn to postmodernism. At the same time, in an aside, the author emphasizes that Chinese culture is not a "backward" culture but a unique one with substantive "differences" from Western culture. Chinese and Western cultures are not in a "gap" relationship but in a "difference" relationship. Therefore, there is a need to re-recognize and affirm the value of Chinese culture. The author specializes in the history of Western art and, in historically explaining the formation of Western "modernity" culture and the emergence of the "postmodernism" phenomenon, offers personal insights that are undoubtedly inspiring for scholars both at home and abroad.