Postmodernism: A Beginner's Guide

There is no Idiot's Guide to Postmodernism. And there's a reason for that. Postmodernism is not something that is easy to digest, to understand, "to just get the basics." So anyone writing a beginner's guide to Postmodernism has no easy task. That said, Hart's beginner's guide is top notch. My first introduction to postmodernism and postmodernity was Stan Grenz'A Primer on Postmodernism. While adequate to get me started, I wish I would have had Hart's. While the opening volley of imaginary "guides" is a bit forced, and although he clearly emphasizes the postsecular aspects of the postmodern, Hart's exposition of this nebulous phenomenon called 'postmodernism' is quite illuminating. The text is a bit dense for a beginner's guide, but then, he didn't write and idiot's guide, just a beginner's guide. Take his advice. "When you have finished reading the book, make a photocopy of the bibliography and then give the book to a friend" (ix). After all, as he says, "If these chapters have any value, it will be in leading you to read works by the people whose ideas I introduce and sometimes parry." It's not a comprehensive account for people who want the easy answers, it is a guide for those beginning an intellectual engagement with postmodernism. Let the games begin!

Don't let the subtitle, "A Beginner's Guide", fool you. This textbook is "an introduction to postmodernism for people who know little or nothing about it." (p. ix) It's not an ordinary textbook by a long shot. This one is as remarkably enlightening and thought provoking as it is difficult to read. Set aside plenty of time for it, and be sure to read it with a handy supply of colored highlighters and sticky tabs because there is so much to come back for on later readings. The author guides the intrepid with readings that cross the plains of secular culture and find a place where theology and philosophy meet. The journey is rewarding. The first third of the book works to develop a definition of Postmodernism that feels natural. This definition and the understanding developed along the way is as broad as the distance from James Joyce's "Finnegan's Wake" to the hyper-reality of today's televised combat coverage. The second third of the book works to develop an understanding of the Postmodern experience through exposition and the use of "fragments". What begins in literature and art, transforms into popular culture and eventually to a dsicussion of the dominant forces on earth - triumphant democracy and global capitalism. Even those forces have limits though. When the author brings us to the cliff edge of those limits, he rightly points out that the abyss into which we stare may not be so empty after all. But to go forward from here requires a new way of thinking about some old issues - topics that Postmodernism is uniquely able to address. Those topics fill the final third of the book, and it is the authors finest work. The author offers an interpretation of Postmodernism that gives the reader the chance to recover something long lost by Modernism - the beauty, elegance and simplicity of the pre-modern. This portion of the book deals extensively with the relationship of faith, especially Christianity, and the Postmodern. It is not a Fundamentalist tract or a call to prayer. It is a thoughtful and respectful look at Postmodern religious thought and transcendence by an author who really does know what he is talking about. The book contains an extensive glossary and index. Its bibliography is divided into books recommended in the chapters and books for further reading. This book is very interesting and extremely informative.