Mapping the Space of Postmodernism

Abstract

This chapter considers the call for a spatial metaphor for postmodernism. Starting with a discussion of Edward Soja’s idea of postmodern space, and considering Frederic Jameson’s call for a spatial metaphor, the chapter develops a spatial mode of understanding postmodernism. This is done through a critical evaluation of Jean Baudrillard’s concept of the hyperreal and Giles Deleuze and Felix Guattari’s idea of the rhizome (further developed by Umberto Eco) as metaphors of understanding contemporary society. Developing those theories, the chapter presents the concept of the postmodern structure of consciousness as the metaphor by which to understand postmodernism. It is through the use of this metaphor in literary techniques that the book defines literary postmodernism as works which operate with a postmodern structure of consciousness.