1 9 4 0 s ▁and ▁ 1 9 5 0 s ▁the ▁term ▁post mod ern ▁came ▁into ▁use ▁to ▁sign ify ▁a ▁re jection ▁of ▁modern ▁convent ions . ▁Many ▁of ▁these ▁early ▁post mod ern ist ▁views ▁came ▁from ▁France ▁following ▁World ▁War ▁II . ▁Post mod ern ism ▁has ▁been ▁associated ▁with ▁Karl ▁Marx , ▁Sig mund ▁Fre ud , ▁radical ▁politics , ▁and ▁arguments ▁against ▁met aph ys ics ▁and ▁ide ology . ▁Sou len ▁and ▁Sou len ▁quote ▁French ▁phil os opher ▁Jean - Fran çois ▁Ly ot ard ▁saying ▁" I ▁define ▁post mod ern ism ▁as ▁incred ul ity ▁toward ▁meta - n arr atives ." ▁Bib lic al ▁scholar ▁A . ▁K . ▁M . ▁Adam ▁says ▁post mod ern ism ▁is ▁not ▁so ▁much ▁a ▁method ▁as ▁a ▁st ance . ▁It ▁has ▁three ▁general ▁features : ▁ 1 ) ▁it ▁den ies ▁any ▁privile ged ▁starting ▁point ▁for ▁truth ; ▁ 2 ) ▁it ▁is ▁critical ▁of ▁theories ▁that ▁attempt ▁to ▁explain ▁the ▁" tot ality ▁of ▁reality "; ▁and ▁ 3 ) ▁it ▁attempts ▁to ▁show ▁that ▁all ▁ide als '' ▁are ▁ground ed ▁in ▁ide ological , ▁economic ▁or ▁political ▁self - inter est . ▁Post mod ern ists ▁are ▁susp icious ▁of ▁traditional ▁the ology ▁and ▁the ▁neutral ity ▁of ▁reason , ▁and ▁emphas ize ▁relativ ism ▁and ▁ind et erm in acy ▁of ▁texts . ▁In ▁text ual ▁criticism , ▁post mod ern ists ▁reject ▁the ▁idea ▁of