Postmodernism can only be defined relative to the equally confused term modernism

Evidence

No one exactly agrees as to what is meant by the term, except, perhaps, that ‘postmodernism’ represents some kind of reaction to, or departure from, ‘modernism’. Since the meaning of modernism is also very confused, the reaction or departure known as ‘postmodern­ ism’ is doubly so. — David Harvey, The Condition of Postmodernity, 92

Categorization

• QUESTION: Flags the definitional instability Harvey himself will wrestle with throughout — worth tracking how he eventually pins both terms down.
• XREF: connects to: Lash defines postmodernism as imagistic, de-differentiated, and immanent within modernism — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 111; Defining Postmodernism as internal to Modernism abandons its periodizing claim; Jencks’ ‘double-coding’ criterion fails because montage already defines Modernism — Alex Callinicos, Against Postmodernism: A Marxist…, 81 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Debates over postmodernism structurally require an opposing modernist position #corroborates (0.85)