Postmodernism’s presentism forecloses the historical understanding needed to explain it

Evidence

Postmodernism attends to the close of the past by saying that history is finished, therefore you needn’t go back to it. There is only the present, and all you can do is be with it, immersed in it. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 725

Categorization

• DEFINE: Crisply defines the tension at the heart of postmodernism’s self-understanding.
• XREF: Connects to the reader’s note on future-oriented discourse masking the loss of a genuine public sphere. — connects to: Extreme postmodernism erases historical specificity into a millennia-old cultural constant — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 129; Postmodern narcissism is not new but rooted in nineteenth-century European public life’s erosion. — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 543; Postmodernism discourse must be dated to its specific historical conjuncture — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 597 (+3 more)