Postmodernism lesson 1

L/O:In this lesson you will be able to …..

Introduce to the basic ideas about Postmodernism and consider it's originsAddress basic themes and concepts that make something Postmodern

Consider the wider effects of Postmodernism on yourselfAddress assessment objectives and exam criteria

Starter

• Post = ?

• Modern = ?

• Ism = ?

Starter• Post = after

• Modern = ?– Modern generally denotes something that is "up-to-date", "new", or contemporary. (wiki)

• 1.of or pertaining to present and recent time; not ancient or remote: modern city life.

• 2.characteristic of present and recent time; contemporary; not antiquated or obsolete: modern viewpoints.

• 3.of or pertaining to the historical period following the Middle Ages: modern European history.

• 4.of, pertaining to, or characteristic of contemporary styles of art,literature, music, etc., that reject traditionally accepted or sanctioned forms and emphasize individual experimentation and sensibility.

• Ism = ?• a distinctive doctrine, theory, system, or practice:

• a suffix appearing in loanwords from Greek, where it was used to form action nouns from verbs ( baptism ); • on this model

, used as a.productive suffix in the formation of nouns denoting action or.practice, state or condition, principles, doctrines, a usage or.characteristic, devotion or adherence, etc. ( criticism; barbarism;Darwinism; despotism; plagiarism; realism; witticism; intellectualism 

What is pomo? (wiki)• Postmodernism is a term that describes the postmodernist movement in the arts,

its set of cultural tendencies and associated cultural movements.

• It is in general the era that follows Modernism. • It frequently serves as an ambiguous overarching term for skeptical interpretations

of culture, literature, art, philosophy, economics, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism.

• It is often associated with deconstruction and post-structuralism because its usage as a term gained significant popularity at the same time as twentieth-century post

structural thought.

Starter

• What do we know about postmodernism? • Where have you come across is before?• Is it an easy concept to understand?

ISM’s before postmoderISM

Ism's: A History Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-

21st Century)

Ism's: A History Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)

BAROQUE

Ism's: A History Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)

ROMANTIC

Ism's: A History Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)

REALISM

Ism's: A History Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)

MODERN

Ism's: A History Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)

POSTMODERN

Key Concept: Postmodernism

• Postmodernism is a very big and complicated concept to get your head round, but in its simplest form it attempts to analyse society and culture now.

• It is the central idea behind new fashion, music and film - put simply postmodernists believes that artistic creativity and "newness" can no longer happen as in today's society everything has been done?

Some Key points

• Inability to create anything new • Experimentation with existing forms and

conventions • Loss of the "real"• General pessimism and lack of purpose• Technology increasing important in social

interaction

What makes something Postmodern?

activity

• All these texts are post modern….but how?

• Purpose?• What in common?• Style?• Audience? • Themes?• Content?• Etc.

Generic Hybridisation

• Put simply this is when a text mixes the elements of two or more genres together

• Example: “Shaun of the Dead”• Suggests that you cannot

create anything new anymore?

Intertextuality • This is when a text makes deliberate references to other media texts by stealing bits of it

• Example: • “The Simpsons”

      (Sopranos)                &• (Clockwork 

Orange)

• Possibly suggests that we constantly repeat rather than create new things?

• Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.

Intertextuality

A text’s reference to other texts.

This is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts.

It can refer to an author’s borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in reading another.

Intertextuality

Pastiche

ParodyHomage

Satire

Pastiche

• A pastiche is a work of art, literature, film, music or architecture that closely imitates the work of a previous artist, usually distinguished from parody in the sense that it celebrates rather than mocks the work it imitates.

• A medley of various ingredients... Denotes a technique using a generally light hearted, tongue-in-cheek imitation of another’s style. Although it is jocular (humorous), it is respectful (unlike parody).

• Alternately, a pastiche may be a hodge-podge of parts derived from the original work of others.

• Pastiche is prominent in popular culture. • Many genre pieces, particularly in fantasy, are essentially pastiches.• George Lucas’ Star Wars series is often considered to be a pastiche of

traditional science fiction television serials or radio shows.• They can be seen as a pastiche of 1930s science fiction cliffhanger serials

like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Some would argue that it blends elements of samurai, American western, and sci-fi film genres.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh8KVG8j68I flashhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjNlyWxwCac buck rogers

The films of Quentin Tarantino are often described as pastiches, with their mixing and blurring of generic conventions and boundaries.

Kill Bill (2003) pays tribute to (or perhaps imitates) numerous genres;

(next slide)

-though some say his films are more of a homage.

Kung fu / martial arts

& Japanese anime

Western films

-pulp novels/comics(themes of adventure/horror)

blaxploitation(70’s)

grindhouse(venues that showed exploitation films….showed pornographic/high sex, slasher horror or dubbed martial arts films)

Kill Bill (2003) pays tribute to (or perhaps imitates) numerous genres;

Kung fu / martial arts

& Japanese anime

Western films

blaxploitation(70’s)

grindhouse(venues that showed exploitation films….showed pornographic/high sex, slasher horror or dubbed martial arts films)

Homage

• Mixing and blurring of generic conventions and boundaries.

• Film or director pays tribute (some believe imitates) to previous distinctive styles/genres

• Homage is generally used to mean any public show of respect to someone to whom you feel indebted (worthy of dedication). In this sense, a reference within a creative work to someone who greatly influenced the artist would be a homage

Homage example

• Johnathan Glazer’s music video for Blur’s The Universal paid homage to Stanley Kubrick’s film Clockwork Orange).

Homage Example• ChinatownWhen Nicholas has

discovered the secret of Sandford and is trying to get Danny to help him take the village down, Danny says

"Forget it Nicholas, It's Sandford"

• a reference to Chinatown's "Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown"

Parody

• A parody (also called spoof), is an imitative work created to mock, comment on or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of satiric or ironic imitation.

• Most of the humour in recent parodies of film genres is based on our familiarity with formula plots, conventions and characters.

Duchamp's parody of the Mona Lisa adds a goatee

and moustache.

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci. Original painting from

circa 1503 – 1507.

Parody in Duchamp (mona lisa)• Marcel Duchamp's Dadaist painting LHOOQ parodies DaVinci's Mona Lisa

by marring it with a goatee and moustache. In keeping with his Dadist practices, which called artistic conventions and aesthetic assumptions into question, DuChamp’s paired his visual parody with a low pun; in French, "L.H.O.O.Q." sounds like an idiom describing women who sexually tease men: "elle a chaud au cul," or "she is hot in the ass."

Parody & genre (western)• Some genre theorists see parody as a natural

development in the life cycle of any genre.

• Such theorists note that Western movies, for example, after the classic stage defined the conventions of the genre, underwent a parody stage, in which those same conventions were ridiculed and critiqued.

• Because audiences had seen these classic Westerns, they had expectations for new Westerns, and when these expectations were subverted, the audience laughed.

Parody Examples• Films like Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie and Team America: World Police first build on

our habitual expectations of their genre and then violate them. Because each of these films incorporates the plot, characters & conventions of dozens of films, they can be helpful in studying the genres they parody.

Satire is a technique in which a target is held up for merciless ridicule. Because satire often combines anger and humour it can be profoundly disturbing - because it is essentially ironic & sarcastic - it is often misunderstood.

Although satire is usually witty, and often very funny, the primary purpose of satire is not primarily humour but criticism of an individual or a group in a witty manner.

Satire

Self Reflexivity• This is when a “text” points

out to the audience that it is a “text”.

• This level of self awareness points to how “texts” are constructed

• Where a text knows it's a text and draws attention to it's structure, production and/or conventions to the audience. In doing so, inverts (reverses) itself reflecting its own reality rather than an outside one.

I feel like I’ve been wearing the same

clothes for 10 Years!

• “Example: “The Simpsons”

Self Reflexivity example

• CATFISH

• Makes it known it is making the show (you can see filming/camerman, NEV talks about it on camera) …..a lot of direct address etc etc.

Juxtaposition• This is when a collection of opposing elements

all mix together to try and make sense.• Example: “The Mighty Boosh”

This can often reflect a confusing a world where things don’t make any sense

Hyperreality• Because of all the self- reflexivity,

intertextuality etc, texts become detached from anything real. This creates a hyperreal state where reality is altered and detached from anything “real”

• It is when a reality is made which is based on a reality which is not real – Think of ‘virtual realities’ or realities in

video games……think of representation of men/women – usually ideological and unrealistic

• Example: “The Matrix”

High art/cultureLow art/culture

LOW HIGHLow culture is a derogatory term for popular culture ; everything in society that has mass appeal.Low culture is a term for some forms of popular culture that that have mass appeal.

High culture is a term referring to the "best of breed" (from some elitist viewpoint) cultural products. What falls in this category is defined by the most powerful sections of society, i.e. its social, political, economic and intellectual elite.

Take away mealsGossip magazinesBest selling books such as ‘50 shades of Grey’Sports such as basketball and footballBanksy

ShakespeareClassic art………mona lisa……Picasso…….Classic literatureClassic music ………..such as the OperaTheatre

Hybrids of high/low

• The line between high and low art is very blurred in postmodernism

Producing text like this:

Why?

How to create new things in an Postmodern World

Adaptation Adaptation + Hybridisation

Self-reflexivity

Action +Romance?

HYBRID JUXTAPOSTION BRICOLAGE

REALITY TV SHOWS

(doc+game show+soap) to form new meaning/conventions

+

= gay?

Nothing new• Think of the film industry • You will realise most films are

– Remakes (the hills have eyes)– Adaptations (from books/plays ‘Girl with dragon tattoo’ or adapted to be different =

‘Maleficient’)– Franchise (series – Indiana Jones)– Reboots (the Amazing Spiderman, Godzilla)– Parody/pastiche/homage

• On your phone look up each category (film/TV/music video) – Remakes – Adaptations – Franchise – Reboots – Parody/pastiche/homage

What films are COMPLETELY NEW/ORIGINAL? Are they as successful?

• Can you think of two genres that have not been mixed already?

• What/who decides what works well

together?

Other pomo features

• (Look on your handout)

• Non linear narratives• Artificialness • Dystopian narratives (& pessimism) • Non realism• Voyerism & panopticanisation

How to spot a Postmodern Media Text

• Run though the attached hand-out and find examples of a Postmodern text from the following categories:

• Music • Fashion• Video Games• Consumer Electronics• Sport• Toys

QUESTIONS (write in book)

• Why do Postmodern texts exists?• What do they say about the world we live in?• What are the possible long term effects of

postmodernism?

Postmodernism WIKI

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism

• If you want to do more reading……

Summary of POMO Key terms• Nothing new/nothing original • Non linear narratives• High/low art hybrids• Self reflexivity• Artificialness • Dystopian narratives (& pessimism) • Non realism• Hyperreality• Voyerism & panopticanisation• Nostalgia • Intertextuality

– Homage– Pastiche– Parody

• Hybridisation/hybrids• Bricolage• Juxtaposition

GREEN(confident)

AMBER(somewhat confident)

RED(not confident)

Homework (assign #1)Set: on exam lesson (12C – tues) (12 d – thur)Due: 1 week

• A) revise all key terms

• B) Assignment 1: Something Postmodern• Create a presentation on something postmodern (a text) (film, art, TV,

advertising, music video, etc)• Must have at least 2-3 key terms• The newer, the better – nothing more than 3 years old• The more key terms you can apply, the better (an A/B would have at least 5+)• If you choose a text from the sheet or the powerpoint, it must have at least 4

elements and you must describe them all (can’t get higher than B)