The Symbolic Function of Transmodernity

In this article In which transmodernity will be described as the symbolic context within which, in the last decades, new formulations of selfhood and community have emerged that challenge consolidated representations of the world. The aim will be to examine and map out an illustrative range of discourses at the core of the transmodern scenario, highlighting the counterhegemonic potential of its symbolic function vis-à-vis modern representations of reality. In doing so, particular focus will be put on some of the major effects of globalisation, namely spatial displacement, virtuality and fragmentation, arguing that these factors help us to understand the ‘critical’ dimension of globalisation as a traumatic process of dislocation of social space. It is by scrutinising these factors that we grasp the ability of ‘transmodern’ formulations of space and community to challenge the position of modern discourses.