From "Now-here" to "Nowhere" : the spatial aesthetics of postmodernism

Abstract

With the waning of the age of modernism, time has ceased to have a primary role in shaping people’s psychological and cultural expressions. Time has given way to space and a new understanding of spatiality, which has been described as the “spatial turn.” Space is now seen as fluid and shifting without any locational coordinates just as time is viewed as fragmented, misaligned and imaginary. This new realization of space rejects the modernist concern for rationality and order, which has allowed various power groups to have domination and control over space. The opposing modernist and postmodernist views of space can be summarized under the categories of “now-here” and “nowhere.” These two categories clash over questions of order, control, identity, subjectivity and representation but there is an eventual rejection of hierarchical and gendered spaces, and other historically determined attributes of space. While “now-here” is considered predominantly male, white and rooted in history and time, “nowhere” is seen to be supportive of women and ethnic groups. “Nowhere” is characterized by a postmodern ambivalence, playfulness and virtuality; it is also the hyperreal cyberspace. However, in spite of the predominance of postmodern “nowhere” in our time, the paper posits that “now-here” is not a spent or inactive site either, but that it makes and remakes itself according to historical or political exigencies.