Ambiguity is key. There are no originals, only copies. What you think might be the truth, it might not, but who cares? You’re thinking it whether you like it or not; live with it and appreciate it. Welcome to the world of postmodernism.

Postmodernism encompasses a field that, for the record, nobody can fully explain. When it started is a mystery. Going deeper, nobody can seem to define when the "modern" era began, so basing the postmodern era off of that is literally impossible. And that goes along just wonderful with postmodern ideals. The start of postmodernism - is it when you think it started? Probably. But you’ll have to find the answer yourself; the author sure isn’t going to help you. Make your own opinion; sheesh!

This "form your own opinion, not the author’s" approach to writing is something that very much intrigues me and makes me want to read what’s going on in these stories - stories which are filled with questionable content and vague descriptions and odd opinions and outstanding facts - stories such as such as The Sweet Hereafter by Russel Banks. I’m only about halfway into the book, but you are left in the dark as to who is right and who is wrong.

It centers around a bus accident which killed, I believe, twenty-seven students. The driver survived. So who is a small community going to blame? The bus driver? The government for their seat belt law? Whoever built the terrible sand trap and filled it with icy water? Lawyers from all around come to figure it out - but surprisingly, some people would rather confide in themselves, or deny that the entire even ever happened. Even more drastically, some will leave their homes and move to another state in order to start a new life without their children.

The concepts of postmodernism pose such problems: Are there any originals in today’s world? Why do I bother to think the way I do now? Why should I confide in the ideals set before me as the standard of culture? All of these "why" questions, and probably the idea that one should always keep asking "why?", are postmodernist ideals.

This ambiguity, and the reason I like it so much, is something that I see in my own writing. I’d rather not be clever and just make some prose, and when someone walks up to me and has some deep meaning come out of it, I can go, "I didn’t think of that, but it’s very flattering - I’l go with it! I’m a freekin’ genius to come up with such deep stuff." As you may or may not know, I’m not a supporter or tearing apart literature created by authors already dead. To me, extracting meaning from a book where the author is not there to confirm it, for a grade at least, is silly. If we’re going to be graded on interpreting a dead author’s book right, let’s get the dead author to make the grade.

However, if it’s not for a grade, I like to form my own opinions and make them radical. Postmodernism supports this, and demands that books be written specifically for this purpose. Everyone’s opinion and interpretation of the book is respected, whether it’s for a grade or not. And the teachers have to let that slide.

There’s so much more to postmodernism and how awesome it is, but that’s something everyone should discover for themselves. Look up some essays, read into the philosophies. There’s a lot of social breakdown into it, and a lot of philosophical ideas that may or may not change the way you look at some newer literature. It might even make you pick up a book if you aren’t already an avid reader - and if you are, then you’ll probably remember postmodernism and want to pick up another one.