Postmodern Themes in English Literature

Abstract: This article examines about the themes of postmodernism in English literature. Postmodern is short form of Postmodernism, it is a movement and thinking that become popular in the 20th century. It influenced deeply on art, architecture, literature, philosophy, culture, and social theory. Most often used themes are Fragmentation, Metafiction, Power and Control system, Irony and Satire, Identity Crisis, Rejection of Grand Narratives, Questioning Reality, Intertextuality by the authors like Salman Rashdie, Italo Calvino, Don DeLillo, Margaret Atwood, Jorge Luis Borges and Paul Auster. Through the above mentioned writers works we can describe the themes of postmodern literature. The life of modern people is posturizedin these postmodern works which helps the reader to understand the way of life in a better manner. So that we can learn the many faces of society and live in reality. There are thinkers who contributed to the Postmodernism- Jean-Francois Lyotard emerges as the most important philosopher of postmodernism. His work has focused on a range of issues such as postmodernism and language, ethics, the issues of representation and notions of truth.Jean Baudrillard’s works emphasis on the image, the development of virtual models of reality and the commodity-consumerist culture of contemporary life. Specifically he talked about Hyper reality.StuartHall’s works explains mainly about postmodernity and question of identity, culture and social action.