--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To the extent that I've ever understood…" description: "\"To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism - and I'm sure there are people out there who do, but I'm not one of them - one of its distinguis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/steve-erickson-9119_artifice_to-the-extent-that-i-ve-ever-understood_42729.png" --- # To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism… ![“To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism - and I'm sure there are people out there who do, but I'm not one of them - one of its distinguishing traits is the story's awareness of its own artifice, and how that awareness becomes part of the story. And if that's right, then I have no…” quote by Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/steve-erickson-9119_artifice_to-the-extent-that-i-ve-ever-understood_42729.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/steve-erickson-9119_artifice_to-the-extent-that-i-ve-ever-understood_42729.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8c0/steve-erickson-9119_artifice_to-the-extent-that-i-ve-ever-understood_42729.png) > “To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism - and I'm sure there are people out there who do, but I'm not one of them - one of its distinguishing traits is the story's awareness of its own artifice, and how that awareness becomes part of the story. And if that's right, then I have no idea how I ever got lumped into postmodernism except that I believe, since I was first published, people just haven't quite known where else to put me.” [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker reflects on postmodernism's self‑referential nature, questioning why they are categorized within it despite not fully grasping its principles. **In simple terms:** Self‑awareness in narrative Key Takeaway Labeling can be arbitrary Themes self‑reference literary theory identity categorization postmodernism Mood introspective wry Type critical personal When to use this quote - academic discussions - literary criticism - author interviews - publishing industry Key Concepts artifice meta‑narrative Practical Applications - explaining literary movements - self‑positioning in scholarship Questions to Reflect On - How does awareness of artifice affect a story's impact? - When might a label misrepresent an author's intent? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Awareness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/awareness/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Postmodernism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/postmodernism/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) ## Related quotes > [The last thing I want is that sense of artifice - rather I want the reader drawn into the story and lost in it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-last-thing-i-want-is-that-sense-of-artifice-rather-i-want-the/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Art lies by its own artifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/art-lies-by-its-own-artifice/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/what-would-you-make-no-distinction-between-hypocrisy-and-devotion/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [The younger and healthier a woman is and the more her new and glossy body seems destined for eternal freshness, the less useful is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-younger-and-healthier-a-woman-is-and-the-more-her-new-and-glossy/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [By the word simplicity, is not always meant folly or ignorance; but often, pure and upright Nature, free from artifice, craft or deceitful ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-the-word-simplicity-is-not-always-meant-folly-or-ignorance-but/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [If a close examination of the evidences of Christianity may be expected of one class of men more than another, it would seem incumbent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-greenleaf/if-a-close-examination-of-the-evidences-of-christianity-may-be/) [Simon Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-greenleaf/) > [Each day is a miracle that intoxicates me. I want more. I greet every morning like a new pleasure. And yet I am keenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malika-oufkir/each-day-is-a-miracle-that-intoxicates-me-i-want-more-i-greet-every/) Malika Oufkir > [The girl in the mirror caught my eye briefly...It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/the-girl-in-the-mirror-caught-my-eye-briefly-it-is-an-uncanny-feeling/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Cupid is naked and does not like artifices contrived by beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/propertius/cupid-is-naked-and-does-not-like-artifices-contrived-by-beauty/) [Propertius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/propertius/) > [Being blond is definitely a different state of mind. I can't really put my finger on it, but the artifice of being blond has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/being-blond-is-definitely-a-different-state-of-mind-i-can-t-really/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [But since the Modernists (as they are commonly and rightly called) employ a very clever artifice, namely, to present their doctrines without order and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-x/but-since-the-modernists-as-they-are-commonly-and-rightly-called/) [Pope Pius X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-x/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Films are artifice. We're telling stories on film. At the same time, when it works, there is a real tough immediacy and spontaneity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mcgann/films-are-artifice-we-re-telling-stories-on-film-at-the-same-time/) [Paul McGann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mcgann/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [I did plays in college, and I have half of a play. But I'm kind of stuck. I keep revisiting it so maybe it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-did-plays-in-college-and-i-have-half-of-a-play-but-i-m-kind-of/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) ## More by Steve Erickson > [If you're a smart writer, you listen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/if-you-re-a-smart-writer-you-listen/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I have members of my immediate family, and my wife's immediate family, who voted for Donald Trump, and now there's this gulf that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-have-members-of-my-immediate-family-and-my-wife-s-immediate-family/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Before I begin a novel I have a strong sense of at least one central character and how the story begins, and a more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/before-i-begin-a-novel-i-have-a-strong-sense-of-at-least-one-central/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I'm my own "ideal reader" in the sense that I write novels that I would want to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-m-my-own-ideal-reader-in-the-sense-that-i-write-novels-that-i-would/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [The material dictates the approach. I tell the stories in the way that feels natural to tell them. Certainly the last thing I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-material-dictates-the-approach-i-tell-the-stories-in-the-way-that/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“Everyone, she says, is his own age of meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/everyone-she-says-is-his-own-age-of-meaning/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“When the thing that emerged from the collision of sex and freedom, called love, collided with the thing that emerged from the collision of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/when-the-thing-that-emerged-from-the-collision-of-sex-and-freedom/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [While I do believe I become a technically better writer over time, in others ways writing gets harder because inspiration is finite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/while-i-do-believe-i-become-a-technically-better-writer-over-time-in/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [Obviously cheap sentimentality isn't something any good novelist wants to traffic in, but I think it's a problem if you consider it to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/obviously-cheap-sentimentality-isn-t-something-any-good-novelist/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“The human heart commits its greatest treachery by healing. It commits its greatest treachery by surviving the love that was supposed to last forever,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-human-heart-commits-its-greatest-treachery-by-healing-it-commits/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [While a particularly deft sense of irony may be one of the tools of great storytellers, I think it's also true that if irony…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/while-a-particularly-deft-sense-of-irony-may-be-one-of-the-tools-of/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [I believe novels can have secrets from their author, a notion I imagine would appall Nabokov.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/i-believe-novels-can-have-secrets-from-their-author-a-notion-i/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [“The Movies have always been here. The Movies were here before God. Time is round like a reel of film. God hates the Movies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/the-movies-have-always-been-here-the-movies-were-here-before-god-time/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [When L.A.’s schizophrenia between Dreamland and Utopia was becoming socially manifest, the United States, which was always a place, went to war with America,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/when-l-a-s-schizophrenia-between-dreamland-and-utopia-was-becoming/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) > [In my early twenties the nature of conservatism itself changed. When I identified as a fourteen-year-old conservative, it was closer to what we today…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-erickson/in-my-early-twenties-the-nature-of-conservatism-itself-changed-when-i/) [Steve Erickson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) [Explore all 74 Steve Erickson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-erickson/) ## More Artifice quotes > [I did plays in college, and I have half of a play. But I'm kind of stuck. I keep revisiting it so maybe it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aimee-bender/i-did-plays-in-college-and-i-have-half-of-a-play-but-i-m-kind-of/) [Aimee Bender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aimee-bender/) > [It is sometimes necessary to play the fool to avoid being deceived by cunning men.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/it-is-sometimes-necessary-to-play-the-fool-to-avoid-being-deceived-by/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [Films are artifice. We're telling stories on film. At the same time, when it works, there is a real tough immediacy and spontaneity to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-mcgann/films-are-artifice-we-re-telling-stories-on-film-at-the-same-time/) [Paul McGann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-mcgann/) > [Holidays are in no sense an alternative to the congestion and bustle of the cities and work. Quite the contrary. People look to escape…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/holidays-are-in-no-sense-an-alternative-to-the-congestion-and-bustle/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [But since the Modernists (as they are commonly and rightly called) employ a very clever artifice, namely, to present their doctrines without order and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-x/but-since-the-modernists-as-they-are-commonly-and-rightly-called/) [Pope Pius X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-x/) > [Being blond is definitely a different state of mind. I can't really put my finger on it, but the artifice of being blond has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/madonna-ciccone/being-blond-is-definitely-a-different-state-of-mind-i-can-t-really/) [Madonna Ciccone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/madonna-ciccone/) > [Cupid is naked and does not like artifices contrived by beauty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/propertius/cupid-is-naked-and-does-not-like-artifices-contrived-by-beauty/) [Propertius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/propertius/) > [The girl in the mirror caught my eye briefly...It is an uncanny feeling, that rare occasion when one catches a glimpse of oneself in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-morton/the-girl-in-the-mirror-caught-my-eye-briefly-it-is-an-uncanny-feeling/) [Kate Morton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-morton/) > [Each day is a miracle that intoxicates me. I want more. I greet every morning like a new pleasure. And yet I am keenly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malika-oufkir/each-day-is-a-miracle-that-intoxicates-me-i-want-more-i-greet-every/) Malika Oufkir > [If a close examination of the evidences of Christianity may be expected of one class of men more than another, it would seem incumbent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-greenleaf/if-a-close-examination-of-the-evidences-of-christianity-may-be/) [Simon Greenleaf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-greenleaf/) > [By the word simplicity, is not always meant folly or ignorance; but often, pure and upright Nature, free from artifice, craft or deceitful ornament.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/by-the-word-simplicity-is-not-always-meant-folly-or-ignorance-but/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [The younger and healthier a woman is and the more her new and glossy body seems destined for eternal freshness, the less useful is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-de-beauvoir/the-younger-and-healthier-a-woman-is-and-the-more-her-new-and-glossy/) [Simone de Beauvoir](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simone-de-beauvoir/) > [What! Would you make no distinction between hypocrisy and devotion? Would you give them the same names, and respect the mask as you do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/what-would-you-make-no-distinction-between-hypocrisy-and-devotion/) [Moliere](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Art lies by its own artifice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/art-lies-by-its-own-artifice/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sad thing about artificial intelligence is that it lacks artifice and therefore intelligence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sad-thing-about-artificial-intelligence-is-that-it-lacks-artifice/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) Browse all 166 Artifice quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To the extent that I've ever understood postmodernism - and I'm sure there are people out there who do, but I'm not one of them - one of its distinguishing traits is the story's awareness of its own artifice, and how that awareness becomes part of the story. 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