This state-of-the-art handbook represents the postmodern revolution to the broadest extent of its impact on contemporary theories of culture and society. A diverse group of scholars offers over fifty summaries of the key figures who have been postmodernism`s greatest literary, cultural, and political champions. From Salman Rushdie to Robert Rauschenberg, Frantz Fanon to Michel Foucault, and Carlos Fuentes to Cindy Sherman, Postmodernism: The Key Figures captures the dominance of a theoretical paradigm that has done nothing less than redefine the very terms of our knowledge and experience. Entries mark the formal institutionalization of postmodernism in the academy - from fine art, philosophy, and literature to race/ethnic studies, film, and music. Postmodernism: The Key Figures is a handy reference for anyone who wants to understand how contemporary society, politics, and our everyday lives have been touched by this most recent - and most controversial - of theoretical turns.