Postmodernism in America 2

That's the facade of postmodernism in America, the Marxist, Anthropological angle on life. Behind the facade though, there is the real Postmodernism. Firstly, Post-Modernism is post-historical ideology. That literally means that history is literally ignored. At the same time, patterns in history or the ideology of history may be applicable to Postmodernism. This makes Postmodernism problematic. A postmodernist would have no problem removing the word "niggar" from Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. A Postmodernist would have no problem with the Japanese removing the atrocious history of World War II from the history books. This may explain why Postmodernism has become trendy in Japan while being rejected by South Korea and China. I myself consider myself to be a historical deconstructionist. Now, Postmodernism cannot be underestimated as a cultural force because it is an uber-culture. Marx spoke of superstructures of society that molded the citizens of a country. Postmodernism, on the other hand, is very elitist and only the best minds can really engage in it. This is probably why the Marxists and the Anthropologists democratized it so much. In short, being a post-historical force, postmodernism encompasses the sum total knowledge of all history and time with an overwhelming emphasis on Western thinkers, scientists, artists, etc. Anything can be Postmodern, anything can be made post-modern. Religion can be Post-Modern also. Modern artists can be Post-Modern. Nabokov saw himself as competing with all literatures of all time. Picasso remade all the masterpieces in his image. Shakespeare, though, is considered the uber-Post-Modernist in America and England. Now, one thing that is disturbing about Post-Modernism is the idea that everything has been done and thought of, mainly by Westerners. It is as if all the other cultures cannot produce anything of genius quality. Of course, Post-Modernists accept Confucius, Lao-Tze etc as a part of Post-Modernism, but they are mainly older figures in philosophy. The titanically individualistic drive for the truth is largely absent from Asian countries. In some ways, I suppose we are more interested in making money. That said, Post-Modernism is the closest thing to a world culture that we have, but one that is literally overwhelming in its complexity and scope. Now, the basic premise of Post-Modernism is that EVERYTHING IS AN IDEOLOGICAL CONSTRUCT. Ideas are conveyed mainly through language... perhaps the French, following Chomsky, emphasize language as a function of ideas. And they are right to do so since they are a more intellectual race. In America, ideological constructs are expressed through culture which I find somewhat difficult to believe, but America does have a political culture that is ideological and ideally principle-based. And although America is not especially an artistic country, there is a lot of art in commercial areas like Hollywood and advertisements. American art also has been intensely iconoclastic, valuing the idea above the form.