When discussing Postmodernism, the most important thing to remember is that the ideals in this cultural movement stemmed from a reactionary desire of the population.  Artists, composers, architects, and people with great minds were rising up against Modernism and the ideas it stood for, hence the birth of “Postmodernism.” Postmodernism was a retrogradation to Modernism.

Modernism focused heavily upon subjectivity in its art, literature, and film.  The idea of classifying and understanding on the deepest possible intellectual level is descriptive of Modernist values.  Toward the close of the 20-century, however, Modernist claims were beginning to be rejected; no longer did there seem to be a dire need to be able to know all, create all, and do all.  Instead, people began to wonder if everything had been thought, made, and done.  The next step for artists was to rebel against this omnipresent desire for depth and create works of art that could just be, instead of needing to represent a greater or more important idea. Because of this shift in focus from the subjective toward the objective, a major defining factor of Postmodernism is appropriation.  Postmodernists would use many works of other people-- artists, musicians, or architects, put them all together in collage-like fashions-- and would imply no deeper meaning to the new piece of work than what was visible on the surface.  The question that was presented by Postmodernists is whether there is anything to truly be gained from the vast subjectivity, finding meaning in all things, which had been so common during Modernist times.

A Greater Understanding
To truly comprehend the idea of Postmodernism, it is easiest to contrast its visions to those of Modernism.  First, Modernists were concerned with creating a sense of individualism for everyone.  Related to this desire to be unique was the drive to establish new ways of doing and progressing, or the avant-garde.  Moreover, there existed an overarching idea that the world, reality, and life were ultimately decipherable once all of the laws of the universe were grasped.

So to understand Postmodernism, take all of the ideals Modernism and reverse them.  In other words, Postmodernists were more skeptical about both the possibility of progression and of the individuation of the artist.  The strive toward creating the avant-garde was shunned because it was believed that people were products of representations and that their creations and ideas were simply being reconstructed from old ideas.  No longer did the public pursue the answers of the world and search for meaning in everything; now concentration was on the shallow.  That is to say, Postmodernists were concerned not with the meaning or value of things, but strictly with the surface of things. Also, while Modernists focused on individualism, Postmodernists focused on fragmentation; the belief that one’s work is not his or her own, but an appropriated collection of the completed works of others.  Because with this appropriation and eschewing of the avant-garde, postmodern artists often take an idea from another work of art; a play, a story, or a painting, and rework it into something different.  For example, composer Laurie Anderson borrowed lyrics from an opera and incorporated them into her song "O Superman," a minimalist piece of music with an electronic sound; this is one way in which postmodern artists use appropriation to create.