Book excerpt: Joining the modern-postmodern debate, this book suggests that the polarizing polemics of the radical postmodernists who once dominated the discussion have given way to a new critical postmodernism characterized by dialogue, accommodation, and synthesis. A comprehensive survey, Negotiating Postmodernism also marks the arrival of a powerful, critical presence on the scene, one that advances the idea of a late modern-postmodern social and cultural transition.