Liberal culture in the Trump era has been defined by a fusion of perpetual moral outrage with amnesia and political impotence. Every news cycle was the most important thing ever to happen, and yet, soon forgotten, usually with no action commensurate to the supposed seriousness./1

There’s a theory that emerged out of the art world around 10 years ago that seems both anticipatory and programmatic of this cultural mood: “metamodernism,” a term developed to name a “post-postmodern” spirit that oscillates between sincere commitment and ironic distance./2

Proponents of metamodernism framed it as a break with postmodern irony that could reassert hope and optimism while maintaining some measure of postmodern skeptical awareness. Two such proponents went on to be influential figures in the very online liberalism of recent years./3

These were: Luke Turner, best known for collaborating with Shia LaBeouf on “He Will Not Divide Us” and involvement in various cancellations; and Seth Abramson, the “experimental journalist” whose Russiagate fabulism got him on CNN but may best be seen as conceptual art./4

Both Turner and Abramson theorized metamodernism as an ethos of engagé writing/art prior to Trump’s ascent. In an upcoming @OutsiderTheory post I’ll use their theory and later practice as a lens for examining the peculiar sensibility and contradictions of Trump era liberalism./5