Abstract

This essay investigates the ambivalent effects of postmodern thought and its significance for subjectivity. Emerging in the cultural and intellectual upheavals of the 1960s, postmodernism questioned and rejected grand narratives and universal truths and focused instead on legitimizing pluralism, multiplicity, and difference. In this sense, it paves the way towards marginalized voices—women, minorities, children, and LGBTQ+ communities—whose experiences had been neglected by dominant Western narratives. While it is true that postmodernism expanded cultural horizons and led towards social recognition, it also produced destabilizing effects. The refusal to abide by universal and objective truths produced fragmentation, the erosion of social bonds, and the deprivation of psychic rootedness. In focusing on difference without an ontological anchor, postmodernism dissolves the coherence of the self and reduces it to commodity fixations. Hence, I argue that we need a new perspective beyond the relativistic approach of postmodern thinking. Drawing from Robert Samuels’ theory of automodernity, this paper suggests an alternative framework where digital life, situated along post-truth contexts, provides a space for emotional expression and recognition. In doing so, this study contributes to critical theory by mapping out subjectivity that is both plural and grounded, fluid yet anchored in affective and communal ties.