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What is Metamodernism?

  • Writer: Josh
    Josh
  • Sep 3, 2024
  • 5 min read

Updated: Dec 31, 2024

Attempting to give a succinct answer to that question is like trying to make conversation with a moody teenager. That’s because metamodernism itself is a mood. It’s a term given to describe our current cultural attitude, atmosphere or vibe - it is a ‘structure of feeling’. And it is also a teenage mood because metamodernism is a new and emerging phenomena that is still growing and maturing. Plus, like most teenagers, metamodernism is also reactionary; rebelling against the rules of its ‘modern’ and ‘postmodern’ parents.

 

In short, metamodernism is the answer to the question, ‘how do we best describe our post-postmodern world?’ It is a reaction against the narrow view of the self of modernism, and the insignificant view of the self of postmodernism. It is an attempt to safeguard felt experience and personal meaning, and is characterised by three ‘movements’: oscillation, self-reflexivity, and sincere-irony.


The term ‘Metamodernism’ gained traction in 2010, when cultural theorists and philosophers Timotheus Vermeulen and Robin van den Akker published an essay called ‘Notes on Metamodernism’ in the Journal of Aesthetics and Culture.


(See Vermeulen and van den Akker introduce their ideas in this video)


But it first grabbed my attention when the directors of the 2023 Oscar winning film ‘Everything Everywhere All At Once’ described it as a metamodern movie - a clear indication that metamodernism has become mainstream.


3 Metamodern Moves


Various methods or strategies have been put forward to distinguish what makes something metamodern. I prefer to use the term ‘movements’ (strategies sounds too formulaic or intentional), and whilst there may be many, I think there are three inter-linked moves that define our shifting structure of feeling:


1) Oscillation


It only takes a brief glance at writings about Metamodernism before being hit in the face by the word ‘Oscillation’. In fact, some would say that ‘oscillation’ is what metamodernism is all about. Vermeulen and van den Akker summarise [1]:

"The metamodern structure of feeling evokes an oscillation between a modern desire for sense [meaning] and a postmodern doubt about the sense of it all, between a modern sincerity and a postmodern irony, between hope and melancholy and empathy and apathy and unity and plurality and purity and corruption and naïveté and knowingness… Each time the metamodern enthusiasm swings towards fanaticism, gravity pulls it back towards irony; the moment its irony sways towards apathy, gravity pulls it back towards enthusiasm"

Our age is characterised by a tendency to swing – or oscillate – between opposing sets of ideals. Crucially, this isn’t an attempt to hold two positions in balance or to reconcile a dichotomy, but rather a sort of meaning is created in the very act of oscillation and subsequent self-contradiction. Think of a fancy 3d hologram projector which produces an image by lights on a pendulum moving rapidly from side to side. The movement ‘between’ (this is what ‘meta’ stands for) produces meaning – even if that meaning is only ever illusory.


2) Self-Reflexivity


In a world filled with crises we have become increasingly self-critical. We are plagued with questions about our self-worth and the value of our contribution in the world. This is seen most clearly in the film industry.


Video Essayist Thomas Flight has produced a super stimulating piece on how movies have changed in the metamodern era. In short, it’s noticeable how many films are now about (or include elements about) making films. Filmmakers are increasingly questioning the value of filmmaking and storytelling, through the very medium of film (note an oscillation taking place). Or if they’re not about filmmaking, then they most-likely include references to other films – but not as postmodern parody or pastiche - but instead to draw on the meaning of other films and bring it into their own.

 

So, whilst postmodern art seeks to draw the viewers’ attention to the fact they are viewing a piece of art - and therefore cultivate distrust and emphasise a lack of meaning - metamodern art seeks to use the same postmodern techniques to cause self-reflection, not to deny meaning, but to provoke our need and longing for meaning.


3) Sincere-Irony


We are often our most honest when being sarcastic. This is not new yet it is has come to characterise our cultural moment. It is increasingly hard to say something sincerely and to express heartfelt emotion without it sounding false or insincere, unless it is accompanied by a sense of irony (note again the oscillation). Greg Dember, another leading voice on metamodernism, calls this ‘Ironesty’ [3]:

"Ironesty is irony/sarcasm/sardonicness/snark employed in the service of making an earnest point, or expressing a heart-felt emotion. It’s kind of a way of saying “Hey I get that what I’m about to say is kind of corny, but…” and then truly caring about the thing that comes after the “but.” Or it’s a way of delivering a humorous, clever ironic message, but softening it with a “Don’t worry … we’re not too cool for you, we have sincere feelings just like you.”

Where postmodernism may be scathing and sarcastic, we have become tired of deconstruction and long for something constructive. Yet we cannot return to the unabashed emotional expression of modernism without appearing naïve, so we must travel through (and end up being catapulted back towards) postmodern irony.


1 Concrete Example


We see metamoderism at play everywhere from fashion, to music, to memes, but perhaps most clearly in films. My favourite example is ‘The Fall Guy’ starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The whole film is a quintessential metamodern masterpiece (in my humble opinion).


I’ll try and avoid spoilers, but what you need to know is that stunt-man Gosling has ended up working for former-lover-and-film-director Blunt. In the following 40 second clip, they’re talking about how the movie they’re making will end… but they’re clearly talking about their own relationship (and so their own film!). Blunt thinks a romantic ending will be corny in her film… and yet that is what the audience longs for in their story. I won’t say anymore because you should watch it all, but just this scene alone is full of our three metamodern moves…


Why does any of this matter?


That's a fair question. Don’t worry if any of the above left you a little confused. I’m finding it hard enough to write. And there’s much more to say and think through. But why does this matter, and why is it worth the effort of getting to grips with these ideas in the first place?

 

The main reason is because Christians are always late to the party. We turn up, get excited, and work out how to respond to pressing issues, well after the lights are out and everyone has moved on. Francis Schaeffer suggested that cultural change is always spearheaded in the arts, before seeping down through the rest of society, and eventually to theology. He said [3]:

"Theology has been last for a long time. It is curious to me, in studying this whole cultural drift, that so many pick up the latest theological fashion and hail it as something new. But, in fact, what the new theology is now saying has been said previously in each of the other disciplines.’"

If we want to understand where shifts in theology are coming from, we need to understand shifts in the broader culture way before they influence our churches. We must also recognise that we never share the gospel in a vacuum. And so, whilst the enduring message of the cross never changes, the people we are speaking to and their challenges, critiques and frames for understanding our message, do.


If we want to effectively share the gospel with the next generation, I think we’ve got to get to grips with what it means to live in a metamodern world.




[3] Francis Schaeffer, The God Who Is There. (1968)

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