<P> The avant - garde (from French, "advance guard" or "vanguard", literally "fore - guard") are people or works that are experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society . It may be characterized by nontraditional, aesthetic innovation and initial unacceptability, and it may offer a critique of the relationship between producer and consumer . </P> <P> The avant - garde pushes the boundaries of what is accepted as the norm or the status quo, primarily in the cultural realm . The avant - garde is considered by some to be a hallmark of modernism, as distinct from postmodernism . Many artists have aligned themselves with the avant - garde movement and still continue to do so, tracing a history from Dada through the Situationists to postmodern artists such as the Language poets around 1981 . </P>

Where does the term avant garde come from