Notes on the demise of metamodernism

This article proposes that the theoretical framework of ‘metamodernism’ as defined by Vermeulen and van den Akker (2010) is becoming less and less suited to capturing the present cultural, political, social and artistic moment. Following their own framework in establishing the shift from postmodernism to metamodernism, this article suggests a similar shift is taking place and provisionally dubs the coming cultural paradigm ‘technobarbarism.’ Its defining characteristics are: political, economic, cultural and aesthetic polarisation, sensibilities shaped by generative AI and algorithmic standardisation, cynicism brought about by the breakdown of the global rules-based order and by an epistemic crisis, return to absurdism as a coping mechanism, de-contextualisation of prior work into short-form content, the second death of the author, the abandoning of the image of the artist as the ideal worker, nihilism and disillusionment with digital platforms, as well as an ever-growing demand for authenticity.