Epilogue

“The period known as postmodernism is over. With it goes the pervasive cynicism and nihilism that define so much of American culture during the latter 20th century. Now, a new sensibility – called “metamodernism” by an emerging consensus – has occasioned the return of various ideas long denigrated under postmodernism, but also transformed by it. According to cultural theorist A. Severan, this metamodernism sensibility is characterized by a thorough reimagination of transcendence, and the exploration of new modes of depth and dimensionality for meeting the challenge of the contemporary meaning crisis”.

METAMODERISM and the Return of Transcendence;
back cover, 2021, Brendan Graham Dempsey.

“We shade our eyes as we look toward a brightening horizon in anticipation of the next step beyond the postmodern deconstruction of former cultural conventions.

And now, in an innate impulse to assist in a new birth out of the ashes of old cultural forms, we arrive at the threshold of an integral configuration of body, mind, and spirit that is evolving beyond the confines of our outworn conceptions. From a renewed centre on old ground, we look to the cardinal directions. We are keen to find our bearings in a new alignment between our Selves, our long history, planet earth, and the cosmos.”

IN QUEST OF A COUNTENANCE: A Search for Meaning in a World in Transition.
2010, back cover abridged,  John N. Inglis

While the title at the top of this page speaks of endings in my 93rd year, the creative process in the offing may have other ideas – we’ll see …..

John N. Inglis. August 13, 2024