Eighteenth International Conference on New Directions in the Humanities

Abstract

Postmodernism is no longer the appropriate system of thought explaining the cultural paradigms of the twenty-first century, and it is now succeeded by a new sensibility termed metamodernism, largely described as a structure of feelings oscillating between modernism and postmodernism. This metamodern sensibility seems to advance a rejuvenated interest in the notion of self. While previous models of selfhood were strictly categorized into two opposing paradigms, material and spiritual respectively, metamodernism, on the other hand, appears to bring this rivalry to an end by directing these two patterns towards a comfortable place of no reconciliation. This paper seeks to demonstrate the continuous dichotomy surrounding selfhood by tracing it back to various historical eras, starting first with Plato and Aristotle, then Descartes and Hume, to contemporary philosophers Bruce Hood and Mary Midgley. Similarly, it aims to highlight the impact of metamodernism by investigating the emergence of a new model that is metamodern in essence. This model of self, celebrated in contemporary fiction, appears to oscillate between the postmodern illusory, socially constructed sense of self and the modern authentic, elevated self. This way, metamodernism deconstructs prior trends considered in the study of self; there are no longer two main extremes of the self spectrum. Moreover, these concerns are explored in the works of acclaimed novelist Hari Kunzru, in which the metamodern self is depicted as it reiterates vital questions regarding consciousness, and elaborates an understanding of what it means to be a conscious being in the twenty first century.