Post-history and postmodernity. Two key philosophical concepts of critical culture and of contemporary analysis of media and of technical images by Vilém Flusser

Abstract

Vilém Flusser´s well-known concept of pós-história (post-history), used for the first time in 1967 and benaming a book from 1982, is not identical with postmodernity, the concept developed by Jean-François Lyotard in 1979, that became quite popular in the early eighties. Nevertheless, after visiting the inaugural exposition of the Centre Pompidou in Paris in 1985 on new technologies, organized by Lyotard, Flusser integrated the concept of postmodernity into his theory. The three published articles on the topic did not receive propper attention. The relevance for communication theory is also provided by the fact that Lyotard´s exhibition, as an underlying structure, made use of Lasswell´s famous formula (Who says what in which channel to whom with what effect?). This enriches Flusser´s reflections on new technologies by an additional aspect.