Customer Reviews

Facing Postmodernity: Contemporary French Thought (Social Futures Series)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Silverman's book is a very good read and interesting throughout. Specifically, The argument provides a much needed balance between modernity-as-the-fixing-of-identity and postmodern-fragmentation-of-identity. Instead of allowing for an overpowering of the postmodern perspective (floating free from any relation to modernity), Silverman's work is best at making salient the tension between the two--the borderzone between identity-as-essence and identity-as-conjuncture. As Silverman notes, real people experience this tension in their lives; both being ironic in their social effectivity (I like his insight in applying this tension to the discussion of new racism). I utilize this same logic in my recently released book, "Native Americans in the Carolina Borderlands: A Critical Ethnography, Carolinas Press, 2000." In the end, Silverman's book provided me with another well-done synthesis of the ongoing debates between Modernity and Postmodernity--grounding the "Post" nicely in contemporary French society and culture. A must read for modernists and postmodernists, students of sociology, social theory, and cultural studies.