"Of course, works of art should 'call into question' - what else does the tradition of tragedy from Antigone to Hedda Gabler do? But they need to do so in far more complex and enduring ways than we find in most recent postmodernist art." Christopher Butler in Postmodernism

I usually have two difficulties when studying about Postmodernism: to figure out exactly what post-modernism is and to find neutral/critical analysis of it. Authors sometimes seem unwilling to define it and quite often people writing about postmodernism are its own proponents.

I've recently read two excellent books who manage to explain quite well what post modernism is and what's wrong with it. The first book is Postmodernism by Christopher Butler. It focuses more on culture and it covers a lot of concepts that are connected to postmodernism like feminism, deconstructionism, Marxism, irony, pastiche etc.

The other book is called Explaining Postmodernism by Stephen Hicks (available online). Hicks' book is incredibly interesting and focuses more on philosophy. He looks for the roots of postmodernism and finds them in the Counter-Enlightenment philosophers. We understand where post modernism comes from and what it proposes.

Books like these two, that talk clearly about postmodernism and neutrally analyse it, are not that easy to find - believe me.

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Have your read any books about post-modernism or about our current times?