"Postmodernism and Periphery" argues that modernity (as we have witnessed in "Architecture of the Evicted") silences all dissent by making the majority's opinions those of the "minority"--the term "minority" here being applied to those that hold beliefs outside of the controlling class, no matter the size of the dissenting population. Modernity is the destructive homogenizing force we have seen in action, the universal that the West--and any conquering faction--has employed to stabilize the power hierarchies needed to keep themselves in control. Nelly Richard argues that this is no exception in South America. By denying the "truth" to all but the privileged, modernity is guilty of destroying "a true Latin American identity"(355)

Postmodernism, then, seems to be the answer needed to allow Latin America to escape the chains of imperialist control. By destroying the difference between the source of meaning and all things that are defined against it (i.e. the majority and the minority, the "normal" and the "aberration"), postmodernism "nullifies its significance" (356). But there is a problem with this newfound freedom: recognition of the nullification only reminds us of the power hierarchy that was created in the first place, and true postmodernism denies the ability to create the identity that Latin America so wishes to regain. Postmodernism allows everyone the chance to speak, but denies the authenticity of that speech.

Richard says of identity: western identities were applied whether or not they were "relevant to [Latin America's] own reality," and "[representations were] made, and even lived out, of being what one is not" (353). But when does cultural identity appropriation transform from being what one is not to being what one is? How far down the path of hybridization must we travel before the interloper becomes the insider? Cultures are not the static entities that would be necessary for such a strongly expressed transformation to occur. They are always changing, always transforming, even without outside assistance. And in this more globalized world, most cultures are now connected to each other. I am in no way defending imperialism, but we must realize that all cultures impact our own, just as we impact theirs. There is no such thing as a "pure" culture.