What Is Metamodern?

We will be celebrating the release of MY IMPOSSIBLE SOUL: THE METAMODERN MUSIC OF SUFJAN STEVENS on Zoom on FRIDAY, MARCH 6 at 11am Pacific time.

Message me for Zoom deets.

Parsing the Post-postmodern: On Metamodernism and Performatism with Raoul Eshelman YouTube video by What Is Metamodern?

Here the editors of What Is Metamodern interview Raoul Eshelman, the author of two books on Performatism, a metamodern-adjacent theory of contemporary post-postmodern culture.

youtu.be/VHOPzxpzGtA?...

Labubu, Metamodern Little Monsters and the Contemporary Face of Consumer Cuteness Labubu has emerged as one of the buzziest Consumer Products of 2025. They’re of interest for how they embody certain aesthetic paradoxes we talk about here at What is Metamodern? ...

Our latest!

A Metamodern Reading of "Heroes" – Short Story by O.G. Rose The opening story of Under the Wing, “Heroes,” is available to read online as a kind of teaser for the book, which has given me the wonderful opportunity to write not just a review/preview but an actu...

I wrote this metamodern analysis of "Heroes," a short story by O.G. Rose.

whatismetamodern.com/fiction/hero...

Metamodern! Of course, voters should back candidates primarily based on an assessment of their policy positions, but relatability will always be a factor.

Say Hello to Metamodernism!: Understanding Today’s Culture of Ironesty, Felt Experience, and Emphatic Reflexivity Published in English Studies (Ahead of Print, 2025)

My book, _Say Hello to Metamodernism!_ has been reviewed in the journal _English Studies_, which I understand is a rather prestigious European journal. It's overall a positive review, with a few gentle critiques, which I like because it makes it feel more real.
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/FTKAC...

Say Hello to Metamodernism: Follow-up Questions and Answers Answers to questions readers have asked about Say Hello to Metamodernism! by Greg Dember.

If you've read my metamodernism book, you may be interested in this article in which I address several common questions I've received since it was published. If you haven't read the book it might provide a sideways introduction to the topic.
medium.com/what-is-meta...

Sufjan Stevens' 'Illinois' Turns 20 “There were days when I had no sense of time or reality, and I wasn’t functioning on a practical level, a day-to-day, matter-of-fact level. I was functioning on a supernatural level, in my mind, in my...

Wrote about back when Sufjan was Doing The Most

Charli xcx’s “Brat Summer,” Metamodern Club Culture, and Their Unlikely Influence on a Presidential Campaign The metamodern sensibility found in Charli xcx's brat album, brat summer and the Harris Campaign's adoption of these pop-culture elements.

We are pleased to have published this guest piece from Troy Campbell, examining the metamodern aspects of last summer's 'brat' phenomemon. Hashtag Charli xcx; Hastag Kamala Harris.

whatismetamodern.com/music/charli...

#tiny #meta-cute #life-as-movie #empathic_reflexivity

Wilco “The Universe” YouTube video by Tom Riggs

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m9rN...

So talk to me
I don't want to hear poetry
Just say it plain
Like how you really speak
The universe
Could be worse
It's the only place
There is to be

‘Buffy’ Update at Hulu Casts Ryan Kiera Armstrong as the New Slayer The ‘Skeleton Crew’ actress will star opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar in the pilot.

We love that there will be a new Buffy series, with a new slayer, but Sarah Michelle Gellar is still BUFFY, an older guide to the new slayer.

Sufjan Stevens Is Doing Okay The self-declared “poster child of death in the music world” lost his partner and then got sick. But he’s trying to stay optimistic.

Sufjan Stevens, while enduring several losses, has kept himself out of the spotlight for the last couple years. Here he catches us up a bit with his life, on the 10th anniversary of his album Carrie and Lowell.
www.vulture.com/article/sufj...

Say Hello to Metamodernism!: Understanding Today's Culture of Ironesty, Felt Experience, and Empathic Reflexivity Say Hello to Metamodernism!: Understanding Today's Culture of Ironesty, Felt Experience, and Empathic Reflexivity [Dember, Greg] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Say Hello to Metamodernism!: Understanding Today's Culture of Ironesty, Felt Experience, and Empathic Reflexivity

For a guided tour of the metamodern cultural landscape of the last 25 years or so...
amzn.to/4eeuHLN

Episode #210: Greg Dember on Say Hello to Metamodernism! YouTube video by O.G. Rose

I really enjoyed this conversation about my book and metamodernism!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4-N...

Metamodernism and Autofiction: A Discussion With Novelist Tope Folarin YouTube video by What Is Metamodern?

Please watch this delightful conversation we had with author Tope Folarin about his novel, A Particular Kind of Black Man, and his interest in metamodernism and the arguably MM works of Miranda July and other creators!
youtu.be/GxqRCU0X7Ws

A Very Metamodern Valentines Day Playlist · Greg Dember · 29 items · 2 saves

Happy Valentines Day! Here at What is Metamodern? Laboratories, we've created the ultimate metamodern love song playlist, A Very Metamodern Valentines Day.
open.spotify.com/playlist/5no...

‘Buffy The Vampire Slayer’ Reboot Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar Nears Hulu Pilot Order With Chloé Zhao Directing Buffy the Vampire Slayer reboot starring Sarah Michelle Gellar is getting a Hulu pilot order. Chloé Zhao will direct, Nora & Lilla Zuckerman wrote it.

WITH Sarah Michelle Gellar!

i want to live in the tiniest, coziest cabin, inside a bubble resting atop a flower. who's with me?

"Peanut Butter Story" – a Metamodern poem by John Howard I read his poem “Peanut Butter Story” ... Linda ... voiced something I’d also been secretly thinking: It’s got that metamodern j' ne sais quoi!

John Howard, a good friend of WiM died recently. We are pleased to share this poem by John that has that metamodern j’ ne sais quoi!

whatismetamodern.com/poetry/peanu...

The Good, the Bad and the Pretty: A Metamodern Review of the Barbie Movie “I think Barbie is going to be philosophically meaningful while also delivering the nostalgic, pink spectacle everyone is expecting. Fun for the whole family! And I think it will be a film I’ll end up...

whatismetamodern.com/film/barbie-...

People often mistakenly think metamodernism equals whatever ideology they support. Left can be MM, Right can be MM. Moderate, apolitical, anti-political can all be MM. Multi-perspectival can be MM, but MM is not at all inherently multi-perspectival.

We're a website that posts about art and culture!

The White Noise Cast Breaks Down the Supermarket Dance | Netflix YouTube video by Still Watching Netflix

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wK0n...

'We Could Have This' By Ben Folds ft. Lindsey Kraft | Kelly Clarkson Show YouTube video by The Kelly Clarkson Show

www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTnT...
Live rendition of a song from Ben Folds' Christmas album!

Can you say more about relational sociology?

Transcending Postmodernism: Performatism 2.0 Transcending Postmodernism: Performatism 2.0 is an ambitious attempt to expand and deepen the theory of performatism. Its main thesis is that, beginning in the mid-1990s, the strategies and norms of p...

This looks like a significant update to Raoul Ehshelman's original Performatism book, which itself was an important neighbor to metamodernism!

www.routledge.com/Transcending...

Metamodern Theatre Symposium - YouTube The Metamodern Theatre Symposium was held at The University of East London and online on 19.11.24 to launch the book Metamodernism in Contemporary British Th...

Missed the Metamodern Theatre Symposium? Don’t panic! The whole event is now available to watch on YouTube

youtube.com/playlist?lis...

A 5 part video playlist ft. @gregdember.bsky.social @katekavs.bsky.social @csvich.bsky.social @dermotdaly.bsky.social and more! #academicsky #theatresky #MetaSymp

So much about Thanksgiving is deconstructable/problematic.... AND YET.... Happy metamodern Thanksgiving, to all!
(Be kind to a turkey)