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What are the postmodern movement's tenets?
There are five traits of postmodern literature.
Embrace of chance
Intertextuality
Playfulness
Fragmentation
Metafiction
Most of these postmodernism traits can be seen in Atonement.

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Three main concepts of postmodernism in Atonement

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Three main concepts of postmodernism in Atonement

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In Atonement there is no absolute reality or truth, which is one of the key ideas in Atonement and a tenet of the postmodern truth theory.
Because the reader must satisfy this demand to form order, the only truth that exists is a construct the reader has invented. A key component of postmodernism is this truth theory.
The narrative implies that the ground beneath Briony's feet is unstable when it refers to the "floorboard cracks" in her nursery early in Part One's first chapter (11), and these cracks can then be read syllabically, symbolizing both a literal fractured dwelling and a metaphorical endangered situation.

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With its first presentation of a novel and its subsequent re-presentation as a book authored by Briony Tallis, a character within the novel, Atonement are considered as a postmodern work.
The entire piece is framed by this actual and figurative instability, which is repeated in the coda: "The floor seems to be undulating beneath my feet" (371). When the newspapers of the day, the day with which Part One is exclusively concerned, mention "earthquakes" (59), which are superlative ground fractures that represent a general background of dislocation or disruption, it quickly becomes clear that Briony's problems are not personal but collective.

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With the potential demise of Cecilia and Robbie during the conflict, Briony implements another postmodern characteristic of having two other endings.
The frequency of the theme and the mention of war clearly establish the link between Briony's family circumstances and her historical setting. A confrontation is clearly developing on a worldwide scale as seen by the looming presence of Hitler (50 and passim), the mentions of Jack Tallis working for the government in advance of war, and the characterization of Paul Marshall as "a warmonger" (50).

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explanation of postmodernism in Atonement

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What constitutes Atonement as a work of metafiction and provide elements of metafiction from the novel

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What constitutes Atonement as a work of metafiction and provide elements of metafiction from the novel

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With Briony Tallis at its center, Ian McEwan's Atonement examines how readily the boundary between fiction and reality can be twisted. This line is determined inside the confines of a fictitious work.
- Atonement's portrayal of life "often imitates fiction, recognizing the crucial role that narrative plays in.
- Speaking to the reader.
- A narrative within a narrative.
- A tale involving the reading or writing of a book.
- Characters who are conscious of their role in the narrative.
- Commenting on the story as it is being told, either in the text or in the footnotes.
The first-time readers turns the page and finds the epilogue labeled "London, 1999," which dispels this delusion by revealing that Parts One, Two, and Three were actually written by none other than the 77-year-old Briony Tallis. Because of the information in the epilogue concerning the events we have just read, the novel is now considered as a metafiction. A careful rereading of the novel reveals numerous allusions to the fact that Briony, who is now elderly, actually wrote the manuscript.
The "imagined or ghostly figure" (329) that Briony perceived as she returned to her life as a probationary nurse is actually the real Briony—the Briony who went on to become a well-known novelist—is a further metafictional twist.
This work is a metafiction because of the epilogue, not because there are metafictional asides throughout the book.
Atonement by Ian McEwan contains metafictional elements.

At first glance, Atonement by Ian McEwan appears to be a modernist book that heavily borrows stylistic elements from classic works by writers like Virginia Woolf and Jane Austen. That is, until the first-time reader turns the page to find the epilogue titled "London, 1999," where the truth that Parts One, Two, and Three were actually written by the 77-year-old Briony Tallis is revealed, shattering this illusion.

Because of the information in the epilogue concerning the events we have just read, the novel is now considered metafiction. A careful rereading of the novel reveals numerous allusions to the fact that Briony, who is now elderly, actually wrote the manuscript. The many revisions Briony made to her manuscript in an effort to atone for her wrongdoing are highlighted by McEwan's metafictional techniques, which are only apparent to a second-time reader in parts one through three. I believe her attempt to be futile. McEwan makes hints about the process of writing and rewriting that takes place when creating a work of fiction early on in the book.

For instance, Briony considers asking Cecilia to clarify the "prospect she was coming near to defining, at least emotionally" after witnessing her sister come dripping wet from the fountain outdoors (40).It is assumed that this "definition would improve itself throughout the years" (40) and through numerous iterations. The lengthy chapter that follows flashes forward sixty years in order to inform the reader that, starting from that point on, everything of Briony's fiction was influenced by "an impartial psychological realism which she had discovered for herself" (41) that same morning. McEwan is also bringing attention to how many times Briony revised her novella Two Figures by a Fountain in an effort to atone for the wrongdoing that resulted from that particular moment by focusing on the writing process.