Accounting Theory Lyotardian Post Modernism

Jean-Francois Lyotard's "What is Post Modernism?" begins like a Homeric, epic poem -- in medias res. The piece commences with descriptions of the times in which Lyotard lives, works, and the times on which he reflects and bases his assertions. Lyotard projects the reader into his critical, philosophical, and artistic context with descriptions of the practices and attitudes within the thinking and creative communities. He expresses exasperation and a rejuvenation to critical perspective. Enter post modernism and Habermas.

Lyotard's aim is to locate and interpret changes in perception and experience as described by Habermas regarding aesthetics, experience, quantifiable reality, and the value of reality. Specifically, what concerns Lyotard is Habermas' contention that the unity of the sociocultural experience of life wherein various elements of thought and life integrate organically as a whole. This unity would bridge gaps among cognitive, ethical, and political discourses and this...

Lyotard seeks to understand and command this unity with examination and application of post modernism.
The article proceeds with analysis of realism. Lyotard describes the definition of reality in relation to the reality questioned and/or implied in art. He claims that realism's definition intentionally avoids artistic reality. He furthermore claims that realism is somewhere "between academicism and kitsch." That phrase implies a performative or constructivist aspect to reality. It has been written and prepared like an academic proposal or lecture; or it is campy and thus performative and not indicatively real. For Lyotard, realism serves as part of a political apparatus whose aim is to destroy the inquisitive and experimental nature of the artistic process and subsequently art. He aligns such a political agenda with academia, an institution he claims systematically overnames and overcategorizes thus restraining beauty and more over, art in general. Lyotard perceives…