Postmodernity is said to be a culture of fragmentary sensations, eclectic nostalgia, disposable simulacra, and promiscuous superficiality, in which the traditionally valued qualities of depth, coherence, meaning, originality, and authenticity are evacuated or dissolved amid the random swirl of empty signals.
“I don’t know which seems more futile to me right now, writing a novel or writing another book of social criticism. Both of them seem, in the current context, futile. I suppose what I’d most like to do is write for the sake of writing and not even try to publish. But, I’ve been sort of embarrassingly lucky in terms of being paid for my so-called dissent. My punishment, I suppose, is how many student papers I’ve had to grade.”
Curtis White