“Off Modern” Theories
Modern narratives of lost continents are considered “off-modern” because they are eschewed to the margins of society and are not part of a mainstream narrative. Off-modern belief systems make us explore sideshows and back alleys rather than the straight road of progress. People who construct their worldviews in opposition to Western rational models of thinking often look to the past nostalgically as a survival strategy. For off-modernists, there is a fascination with new ideas and a longing for tradition. People have actively produced a mythical history of ancestors and places that does not rely on dominant Western modes of scientific thought, especially Darwinian evolution. Those who support off-modern topics consider themselves geniuses for “discovering” the truth of the situation.
Off-modern, a term introduced by Svetlana Boym, refers to a detour into the uncharted possibilities of the modern project. It seeks to rediscover overlooked pasts and explore the peripheral avenues of modern history—those that exist at the margins of dominant philosophical, economic, and technological narratives of modernization and progress. This approach involves probing the alternative potentialities within critical modernity, framing modernity as a question of “what if” rather than a predetermined trajectory of progress. Consequently, off-modern serves as a conceptual intervention in broader theoretical debates surrounding modernity, postmodernity, hypermodernity, altermodernity, late modernity, and post-postmodernism.
Boym coined “off-modern” in The Future of Nostalgia (2001).
Off Modernist View of Atlantis and Lemuria
Lemuria and Atlantis are the perfect areas for off-modernists to explore because no one can remember them, and there are no authoritative documents. No person today will be offended by their improper portrayal. However, there are standard assumptions about the submerged islands based on the writings of Theosophists, Rosicrucians, the Lemurian Fellowship, the I AM Movement, and other New Age groups. These narratives are a form of reflective nostalgia, where people focus on myth-making of another time and place.
In the post-World War I era, Lemuria became a Golden Age or Garden of Eden where civilization flourished. Those who see the past as a Golden Age reject the mundane and ordinary present. Then, around the 1940s, Lemuria and Atlantis emerged as a subterranean world because there were no undiscovered places in the world; the world’s oceans and landmasses were well documented. Also, developments in archaeology provided a more comprehensive record of history. However, Lemuria and Atlantis, as a Golden Age and simultaneously existing inside the earth, remain popular myths of nostalgia.
Further Reading
Atlas Obscura article – website
Author: mountshastamyths
Lurking around here with more questions than answers