Postmodernism - Where do I start?

[Epistemophile]

I want to be acquainted with the concept of postmodernism, if it's a concept at all. what books, texts, do I begin with?

[OrphanPip]

Philosophically if you want to go from the start it would require a lot of heavy reading of the Continental philosophers. If you want a flavor of important postmodernist, you should read the big four Frenchmen: Derrida, Lyotard, Baudrillard, and Foucault.

Or you can just break them down by general area of interest for postmodern thought:

Psychoanalist: Lacan.

Marxist: Gramsci and Althusser.

Feminist: de Beauvoir and Iragaray.

Queer and gender theorist: Butler and Sedgwick.

Post-colonialism: Said.

I'm no expert on postmodernism though, and of the people listed above Foucault, Butler and Sedgwick are the only ones I've read widely enough to explain their ideas confidently.

For literature, I'd start with Borges and Kafka, who aren't themselves postmodernist but are heavy influences on postmodern literature. And you should read Borges and Kafka anyway, everyone should.

[LitNetIsGreat]

Get yourself a decent starter book, not just one that covers postmodernism, but modernism as well. You really need to look at the differences and similarities between them. There are quite a few books out there that would suit. I always stand by Peter Barry as a good primer. Terry Eagleton's books is quite good as I remember. Don't bother with the Jonathan Culler book.

After that you will probably want to look at individual theorists, so any books on those to help out first, then of course you will want to look at the primary texts. The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism is the obvious place to go in that respect and great as a paper weight. Start with the basics stuff first though. For my money you can go a long way with Barry as a starter. Decent book.

[OrphanPip]

Neely's suggestion of books about postmodernism is actually a very sensible idea. It can be genuinely difficult to grasp what a lot of postmodernist theorist are saying without help.

[Jeremydav]

Saussure is important too, surely. And Slavoj Zizek.

[Epistemophile]

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll definitely look up Peter Barry. Currently I'm reading The Cambridge Companion to Postmodern Fiction by Bran Nicol. I like the "Introduction".