1. Postmodernism

2. Aim: To apply the concept of postmodernism to several media texts
To understand the effect of postmodernism on audiences

3. What is postmodernism?
In 2-3’s discuss what you think postmodernism is.
Feedback in 2 mins

4. Strinati’
The breakdown of the distinction between culture and society – (mediaization).
An emphasis on style at the expense of substance and content.
The breakdown of the distinction between high culture (art) and popular culture.
Confusions over time and space.
The decline of meta-narratives.

5. mEDIAIZATION
Art once attempted to reflect reality. Postmodern reality now incorporates art in the form of media texts and today we make sense of reality with reference to media texts. The media reality of an event or an object can be more ‘real’ for audiences than the object itself.

6. rELATED TO MEDIAIZATION…
Baudrillard argued that this culture perceives the ‘copy’ (media representation) as more real that the ‘original’ and stated that we live in a culture where the ‘fake’ is more readily accepted than the ‘real’ and the media creates hyper-reality.
Jameson also argues that as mediaization increases so the culture finds itself losing a sense of historical context.

7. Task
Write down 2 examples of hyperreality in media texts

8. Postmodernism can also be seen as..
An emphasis on style at the expense of substance and content.
Watch the following video. How can it be seen as an examples of style over substance?
Give another example of media text that could be seen to use this approach.

9. The breakdown of the distinction between high culture (art) and popular culture.
There once was a time when high art was removed from popular culture. High art such as opera, ballet, theatre and the visual arts were only accessible to elite groups whilst low art was intended for the masses. In postmodern culture Andy Warhol created multi-coloured prints of the Mona Lisa (high art) and Campbell’s soup cans (low art)
Pop music (low art) often samples classical music (high art)
Advertising (low art) often makes reference to visual art (high
art) or uses classical music (high art) to help sell its products
Find a media text that uses this postmodern technique.

10. bricolage meaning jumbled
Bricolage refers to the process of adapting and juxtaposing old and new texts, images, ideas or narratives to produce whole new meanings.

11. How could this text be seen as postmodern?

12. What is the effect of postmodernism on audiences?

13. Homework Identify a postmodern text of your choice.
Outline what the text is and the different ways that it could be seen as postmodern.
Make reference to theorists and similar ideas/concepts/ media texts.
1 page of A4.

14. Mini Glossary of Terms Marxism: A political, philosophical and social ideology that explores the inequality of class relations in society within a critique of capitalism. Capitalism: An economic system based on private ownership and the means of production and the creation of goods or services for profits. Ideology: Am overarching system of ideas and beliefs that are often used to control society. Avant Garde: Literally in the ‘advanced guard’ – something that is innovative, experimental and forward thinking. Modernity: Futuristic, secular, associated with industrialisation it suggests an experimental approach to building society and is associated with capitalist ideology. Binary Classification: Something that is deliberately placed in fundamental, and often irreconcilable opposition to each other. Surrealism: A cultural movement originating in the 1920s that is typified but a lack of manifest meaning, reason or structure. Analysis of dream sequences and an absence of logic underpin surrealist representations. Pluralism: Diverse, more modern, liberal but equally acceptable representations. Hegemony: Traditional, old fashioned representations or ideologies that are selected, constructed and mediated to audiences as common sense. Jean Baudrillard: French sociologist, philosopher and cultural theorist most notably associated with Postmodernism and Poststructuralism (1929 – 2007). Jean Francois Lyotard: French philosopher who has written widely on the postmodern condition (1924 – 1998). Noam Chomsky: American Marxist, linguist and philosopher (b. 1928). Signification: The process of constructing meaning through interpretation of a system of signs. Hyperreality: Exaggerated representations that often appear more real than real. Metanarratives: Overarching narratives on the nature of existence. Poststructuralism: A philosophy that denies the possibility of truly scientific study. Like postmodernism (with which it is closely related) it focus is on the self an identity.