The discourse surrounding art in the early 21st century seeks to explain our artistic practices in terms of a radically distinct set of conventions, which many have dubbed ‘metamodern.’ Metamodernism abides neither by modernist aspirations of linear progress, nor by the cynical distrust of narratives familiar to postmodernism. Instead it appears to be based on an entirely different set of premises, relating to betweenness, oscillation, and metaxis, generating art with a dual capacity for irony and sincerity. While metamodernism seeks to break the mold of the conventions that preceded it, it also avoids delimitation and prescription, and this traps it in an impossibility. To truly supplant the postmodern, the metamodern state of betweenness must be equally definite and formally circumscribed. In this project, I argue that metamodernism can be defined as an aesthetic of liminality – a state of thresholds and transitions – and that such a definition opens new avenues for understanding its core axioms. The second goal of the project is to reflect on where the metamodern state of transition might lead, and what future forms it promises. The project relies on literary theory, chiefly that of Northrop Frye, on analysis of the discourse surrounding contemporary aesthetics, as well as on occasional forays into philosophy, anthropology and sociology. The project concludes that metamodernism’s core tenets are best understood as existentialist in nature, abiding by the tradition of existentialist writers such as Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, Merleau-Ponty, and others. Identifying an existential underpinning to metamodern art is also to uncover an ethical substrate to what otherwise appears to be a freeform aestheticism. The ties between existentialism and metamodernism provide a case study for a broader look at the relationship between ethics and aesthetics, which might be pursued in future work.

There is a growing consensus among scholars that early 21st century art can no longer be explained in terms of familiar aesthetic conventions. The term ‘metamodernism’ is catching on as a description of our new era. Metamodernism is understood as an oscillation between two modalities – modernism and postmodernism – generating art that is more idealistic and romantic than what we have seen in previous decades, while retaining its capacity to be ironizing and self-aware. However, the discourse surrounding metamodernism has been tentative, provisional, and difficult to circumscribe. In avoiding any overarching claims or settled positions, metamodernism risks remaining only a radicalisation of previous conventions rather than a genuine evolution. The goal of this project is to come to grips with the core tenets of metamodernism, to present them more clearly and distinctly, and to suggest what the scholarship surrounding metamodernism might need to move beyond its current constraints.

Master of Arts (MA)

Thesis