The paradigm crisis and the postmodernist historiography: a literature review

Abstract

After World War II, some intellectuals developed a critical understanding that modernity would have served, among other things, to enhance the tyranny of States and cosmovisions based on ideas of racial and cultural superiority and inferiority, which legitimized conflicts and wars around the world. With the crisis of modernity, new historiographical paradigms are gaining ground. Therefore, the present work is moved by the following question: “what is postmodernism and what are the criticisms in relation to it?”. The methodology consists of a integrative literature review based on books and articles collected on the Google Scholar platform. Then, some postmodernist philosophical and methodological bases will be presented. Finally, it is concluded that there is still no satisfactory understanding of the postmodernist movement, as it is still in vogue, it is difficult to understand its entirety, however, highlighting the importance of some of its postulates for a better understanding of of the main object of study of science history: the past.