Rubber Soul, Jencks

Postmodernism: "strong sense of its departure point, but no clear sense of destination" and
"equally as determined to retain and preserve aspects of the past as it is to go forward... excited about revival, yet wanting to escape the dead formulae of the past"
These quotes were most helpful for my understanding of the term postmodernism. Jencks offers many facets of how postmodernism is practiced in art and architecture. He says postmodern art and architecture represent paradoxical views of oxymorons. Postmodern ideas include a "disharmonious harmony" in which juxtapositional tastes and world-views are appreciated as being more real. For an example, he describes a painting that mixes classical and modern styles which produces a work of art that is perceived as a little confusing, but entirely left up to the viewer's discretion to interpret however he/she wants. He also describes a theme in postmodern architecture called "anthropomorphism." It means that inanimate objects or in this case, buildings are built to suggest forms of the human body. We interpret these buildings in conjunction with the way we feel about the likeliness of the body parts it portrays. Anamnesis is another term that is stated in understanding postmodernism. It's referred to as a "suggested recollection" or a "narrative without a plot." These types of works allude to a historical continuum of interconnecting the past and present. Works of art using anamnesis allows the reader to search for representative forms but the significance of their story is left undetermined in the work itself.
After reading this piece, I have a clearer idea of the meaning of postmodernism.