Research Paper on:
Late 20th Century Postmodernism

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
the way in which postmodernism has had implications for political and social developments, it would be helpful to attempt a definition of postmodernist thought, or at least of its different  variants in intellectual culture. Its development from its roots in the political activity and cultural change of the 1960s through the later part of the twentieth century has been viewed  in a number of different ways by different commentators. For instance, Angermuller (2002) makes the point that whereas postmodernism could originally have been regarded as a primarily intellectual movement in  its early days, it is increasingly becoming divided into different factions which have a direct relevance to opposing political standpoints; this allows it to be seen as a discursive pattern,  and gives rise to questions regarding its current definition, and whether it is possible to go beyond its parameters. He also asserts that it cannot no longer be regarded as  a coherent intellectual project, if indeed this was ever the case, and considers that the closer involvement of postmodernism with political issues also has an impact on the relationship between  academics and pragmatists. However, it could also be asserted that  postmodernist thought, at least in some of its variants, deliberately divorces and separates itself from political ideologies of al kinds, and can therefore not be seen as having a direct  influence on political thought. This does not in itself imply that postmodernism does not have an impact on socio-political change, but rather that it would be simplistic to ally particular  forms of the movement with particular political trends. Epstein (1997) points out the difficulties of establishing the boundaries of postmodernism, noting that whilst it may be encountered more frequently in