Jean-François Lyotard

(1924 - 1998)

French philosopher
Literary theorist
Critic of structuralism, who
presented major themes of
postmodernism
Major work
The Postmodern Condition, a report on
knowledge (1979)
 Theory about the status of
knowledge
 The status of knowledge altered in post industrial
societies in postmodern age, due to
1.Technological transformations in human circulation
2. Proliferation of informational machines
 The media creating circulation of visual images
converted the reality into unpredictable events
 Knowledge is an informational commodity, producers
& consumers, compartmentalization of knowledge is
dissolution of epistemic coherence resulting into the
‘loss of meaning’
• The concept of sublime is changed; an
equation between wealth, efficiency &
truth; the important questions now are: “Is
it salable? Is it efficient?”
• Knowledge has become the principle force
of production in the composition of the
work force & the major bottleneck for the
developing countries, the states will fight
for control of information
• The economic powers are challenging the
sovereignty & stability of the state through
Multi-national Corporation; investment
decisions have passed beyond the control
of the nation-states
 Narrative & the Scientific
Knowledge
• Narrative knowledge (in the form of meta-
narratives) is prevalent without legitimation
(due to hegemony of power structures), the
science questions its legitimacy, but what
legitimates science itself?
• The technology & capitalism - have changed
knowledge into a technological model; in a
cybernetic society, knowledge is measured by
performativity; if it effectively minimizes the
inputs and maximizes the outputs
 Bankruptcy of Meta-narratives
 Meta-narrative, an overarching story that
gives rationale and legitimacy to a particular
worldview or value system, they are created
and reinforced by power structures of cultural
imperialism
 'Meta-narratives' ignore the heterogeneity or
variety of human existence & embody
unacceptable views of Enlightenment,
Development & Progress
 capital & post-industrial culture,
characterized by diversity,
hybridism &
heterogeneity
• Incompatibility of meta-narratives
that are
false totalizing patterns, because
reality is
not single, consistent or self
evident true
• Micro-narratives (smaller scale
issues) are
workable, Postmodernism is a war
on
The Postmodern Condition
 Science & Religion failed to explain reality

 Powers of reason questioned

 Knowledge based on non-rational sources:

Sensations, subjectivism and objectivism,

Paralogy required to legitimate knowledge
 Modernity: metanarrative legitimation

 Postmodernity: metanarratives bankrupt

“I define postmodern as incredulity toward

meta-narratives,”