2. Definitions of postmodernism
Post = after
Modern = just now
Post-modern = after the now – problem already – when
does something that is modern become not modern?
Modernism = starts in 1890s –a time of massive
technological change, the 2nd wave of the Industrial
Revolution
Modernism is related to the Enlightenment project –a belief
that scientific method could help push back the barriers of
knowledge and bring about a world of order, security and
knowledge (an idea which was literally tested to
destruction with the dropping of the atomic bombs in the
Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945
5. Definitions of postmodernism
Remember – a number of conflicting definitions
– there is no definite right or wrong
definition, make sure you discuss this in the
exam
Approaches to defining the term postmodernism
society / culture / lifestyles are significantly different to
30, 50, 100 years ago
Concerned with developments in the
media, consumer society and IT
These developments have an impact on our sense of
identity and reality itself (French President Chirac “We
are all Americans now” in the aftermath of 9/11)
7. Social media and its power –
promo video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla
yer_embedded&v=zihI7fYeq2o#
How Facebook changed the world…
8. Definitions of postmodernism
1870s – Chapman – first uses the term ‘postmodern’
to describe paintings he interpreted as being more
advanced than Monet or Renoir
1917 – Pannwitz – nihilistic, amoral postmodern men
(in the aftermath of WW1 and its huge cost in human
life – approx 20m dead)
1947 – Toynbee – a postmodern age – western
civilization had become troubled with social turmoil
anxiety and revolution in the time since the start of
The Industrial Revolution
1957 – Rosenberg – important social and cultural
changes taking place which were technologically
driven
9. In what ways can the term
‘postmodern’ be defined?
10. Arguments for postmodernism
Lyotard
Postmodernism is a period of time
The era of postmodernism – from the 1960s and
continuing
The era is marked by technological change – it has
become easy to travel to far-flung places and
communicate with people thousands of miles away
the coming of the ‘global village’ as prophesised by
Marshall McLuhan in the early 1960s – a global
village shaped by social networks?
Easier transport – the jet engine
Easier communications – the internet / web 2.0 &
UGC / social networking / broadband
11. History of Now – Hello World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8dsSBE
WNBQ
12. Arguments for postmodernism
Lyotard
An era like others – the Victorian era – the high water
mark of the British Empire, coinciding with the
Industrial Revolution
The postmodern condition –the end of grand
narratives – the big ideologies which seek to explain
the totality of life
Grand narratives which have declined – e.g. religion
Religions seek to explain all facets of life in reference
to their belief systems – bad things happen to you
because you are ‘evil’ (in this life or a previous one…)
In their place has come the rise of micro-narratives –
smaller scale, single issue politics – such as the green
movement or Fathers 4 Justice
14. Arguments for postmodernism
Baudrillard
Makes outrageous statements - e.g. the Gulf War
did not happen, 9/11 was a TV event
Earlier cultures depended on face-to-face
communication
Contemporary culture is dominated by images
communicated by electronic mass media (TV /
internet / video games / film)
Increasingly our lives are shaped by simulated events
– such as home shopping via the internet or
TV, ‘talking’ with friends via Facebook
(But not everywhere – in certain parts of the world
only)
16. Arguments for postmodernism
Baudrillard
Baudrillard’s conception of postmodernism rests
upon 3 ideas – simulation / implosion /
hyperreality
The postmodern era is governed by images – the
representation (or re-presentation) is king – style
is more important than substance
Simulation – where the image becomes more
real than the real thing – WO’B watches the
Heineken Cup final at home on TV after going to
the game to get a clearer understanding of the
game; where Prime Minsters talk in parliament
about Deirdre Barlow’s legal case
21. Arguments for postmodernism
The line between image and reality implodes –
the ‘real world’ disappears – such as in The
Matrix – reality has been supplanted with an
image of the world
When the distinctions between the real and the
unreal becomes so blurred – this is the hyperreal
Disneyland – models of places are more real than
the real things
The world becomes a universe of simulacra
For Baudrillard, the implosion of reality into the
media is to be celebrated as a good thing
23. Our War: Ten Years in Afghanistan
http://a2mediacoursematerials.blogspot.co.u
k/2011/07/our-war-ep3-part1.html
Wootton Bassett: The Town That Remembers
http://a2mediacoursematerials.blogspot.co.u
k/2011/07/wootton-bassett-town-that-
remembers.html
Baudrillard argues signs have become
detached from reality, that signs have no
meaning – is this true?
24. Arguments about
postmodernism
Fredric Jameson – postmodernism is an apology
for the cultural practices of ‘late capitalism’ –
blending genres together in films / TV / video
games is done primarily for financial reasons, it
doesn’t necessarily mark the start of a ‘new age’
in human history
Bricolage for money – Life on Mars & Ashes to
Ashes – blend police drama, with science
fiction, with a dash of metaphysical horror (what
is real? Are we alive or dead?) – done to draw
audiences to what would otherwise be a very
familiar product
26. Arguments about
postmodernism
Jameson – postmodern culture is flat and
depthless, it lacks in personal style and has
given rise to pastiche (copying) – there is no
originality anymore
27. Jameson – do you agree with
him?
Coursework – is it original?
Are any of the texts studied original?
28. Arguments about
postmodernism
But – was there ever? Shakespeare – original
or rip off? Romeo and Juliet / Antony and
Cleopatra / Macbeth – all old stories which
Shakespeare recycled
Was Shakespeare a postmodernist? But he
was writing before the 1960s wasn’t he…
29. Arguments against postmodernism
Jurgen Habermas – the Enlightenment project – of
trying to further develop our understanding of
ourselves and the world we live in is far from
complete, this project, powered by the grand
narrative of the belief in science being able to
deliver progress has not been ended – Lyotard is
wrong to say otherwise
Christopher Norris – Baudrillard’s ideas are
philosophically muddled, we should not treat his
ideas too seriously
30. Arguments against postmodernism
Lyotard – the postmodern era begins at the start of the 1960s - Is
dividing time into eras like this the only way of doing this?
Hobbawm - Age of Extremes – 1914-1991
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2005/jan/15/news.comment
There’s more than one way to read history
The ‘End of History’ was claimed when the Berlin Wall and
Communism fell in eastern Europe
Afghanistan 1838 – Britain invades to try to stop Afghanistan
being used as base to attack British interests (India)
Afghanistan 2001 - Britain invades to try to stop Afghanistan
being used as base to attack British interests..
As the French say, ‘Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose’
The more things change, the more they stay the same
