If on a winter's night a traveler is considered a postmodernist novel. So, what does this mean?
Postmodernism was a Western, mid-20th-century philosophical movement. Postmodernism takes its name from following and reacting to modernism, the main philosophy in the West from the 16th to early 20th century. Modernism stemmed from the Enlightenment and advancement in science and technology. As such, modernism and modernist literature are based upon beliefs in the importance of science, rationality, ethics, and optimism. In contrast, postmodernism, which developed as a prominent philosophy in the aftermath of World War II, is much more cynical. Postmodernist thinkers generally believe that there is no universal truth or deeper meaning to life. Rather than advocate for science and rationality, postmodernists put forth the view that all things are irrational.
Postmodern literature often uses satire, unreliable narrators, metafiction, and fragmented style to challenge the reader's beliefs about life and literature. Authors writing during the era following World War II did not necessarily self-identify as postmodern, but the values of postmodernism and reactivity to modernism can be seen spanning many of the genres that emerged during the post-war period, including Theatre of the Absurd and Magical Realism. Famous authors who have been categorized as postmodern include Samuel Beckett, Jorge Luis Borges, Gabriel García Márquez, Kurt Vonnegut, Michel Foucault, and If on a winter's night a traveler's own Italo Calvino.
Aspects of If on a winter's night a traveler that mark it as a postmodernist novel are the fragmented style of the novel (jumping back and forth between the frame story and stories-within-a-story), the innovative and jarring narrative style, the use of metafiction, pastiche (aka the copying or satire of various literary genres with the stories-within-a-story), and the paranoia of the narrators of many of the stories-within-a-story.
