Cute formalism is a term coined by musician and blogger Nick Currie, aka Momus. In an essay written in Japan in 2001, Currie described how formalism in the Modernist West had always been austere, macho, serious, one of the "high arts", but that a new variety of "cute formalism" was developing in Postmodern Japan. No less experimental, this new formalism managed to be playful, populist, childish or feminine in accent, and superflat (the term is borrowed from Japanese artist Takashi Murakami). Ultraconformist, voyager, timelord, tennis and ping pong champion, tender pervert, poison boyfriend, hippopotamus, philosopher, folk singer, star forever Nick Currie (born February 11, 1960), more popularly known by the pseudonym Momus, is a Scottish-born songwriter. ... Formalism in art theory is the notion that aesthetic values can stand alone and that judgements of art can be detached from other subjective considerations such as ethical, social or political ones. ... Le Corbusiers Villa Savoye, 1929-30: The modern style is noted for its rigorous geometrical forms. ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... Superflat is a postmodern art movement influenced by manga and anime. ... Takashi Murakami (村上隆 Murakami Takashi, born 1962) is a Japanese artist. ...

According to Currie, Cute Formalism is what happens when ostranenie and onanie play themselves out in a social context of low anomie and bonhomie. Ostranenie is Russian Formalist critic Viktor Shklovsky's term for the artistic technique of making things strange, onanie is a term for a masturbatory playfulness related, perhaps, to Freud's polymorphous perversity, anomie is the high levels of crime and social disintegration seen more in the West than in Asia, and bonhomie a pervading atmosphere of unthreatening friendliness and politeness. These necessary pre-conditions explain why Cute Formalism had its genesis in Japan. Defamiliarization or ostranenie is the artistic technique of forcing the audience to see common things in an unfamiliar or strange way, in order to enhance perception of the familiar. ... Anomie, in contemporary English means the absence of any kind of rule, law, principle or order. ... Viktor Borisovich Shklovsky (or Shklovskii) (January 24, 1893–December 6, 1984) was a Russian and Soviet critic, writer, and pamphleteer. ... Sigmund Freud His famous couch Sigmund Freud (May 6, 1856 - September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology, a movement that popularized the theory that unconscious motives control much behavior. ... The concept of psychosexual development started with Sigmund Freud, when he developed his theories of psychoanalysis in the late 19th century and the 20th century. ...

This is a highly controversial subject because the key assumption is that Japan is a post-modern nation-state.