The Postmodern Generation- An Introduction

Blast from the past—beyond the Postmodern Identity

In the old world of religion and kings and queens, identity was solely based on one’s allegiance to a church, motherland, and ancestor; It was as simple as English, Scottish, Christian, and Catholic. When one reign falls and another rises, Identity grew fearful and at times was concealed.

Now, fast forward hundreds of years later into the 20^th and 21^st century and just as multiple seeds are plant in one soil, multiple ethnicities emerged on one land. The barriers of black and white were shattered and gray emerged. Identification was no longer just a card that carries “the holder’s family name, given name, date and place of birth and… a whole array of details, (Maalouf, 10)” it had become a recipe that gave individuals richness and made a human being or even an object irreplaceable. A carpet was no longer just a piece of furniture; it’s a piece of décor within a home , a souvenir from a corner of the world, and a place of prayer within a temple —it’s identity was made up with the views of multiple ethnicities and uses.

The idea of identity as rich, layered and colorful is also seen in the postmodern art world. Cubist painters wanted to emphasize the two-dimensionality of a painting. Artists during this time such as Picasso and Braque emphasizes the use of people and objects rather than landscape in their artwork.

This blog analyzes the main ideas of the postmodern world and how "relativity" was depicted in the works of famous painters of writers such as Violin and Grapes by Picasso, In the Name of Identity by Maalouf and the Different Points of Views campaign by HSBC.