Postmodernism; An Introduction

There are 5 aspects of postmodernism:

1) Playfulness and self-reference:
(media texts don't take themselves seriously)

• Rupture of Verisimilitude; texts aren't trying to fool you it's real life.
• Self-awareness; text knows exactly what it is (a book knows it's a book).
• Ironic Undercutting; taking a serious issue and making fun of it.

2) Intertextuality:

• Generic Blurring; one film blends two genres
• Explicit/Implicit References; Explicit - if someone makes a direct reference to other media texts (i.e. its just like that ______ film) Implicit - when the reference is more subtle.
• The Death of the Auteur; can't be original - always influenced or borrow things.

3) Popular Culture vs. High Culture:

• 'Pick & Mix' Approach to Influences - don't care where the influences come from.
• Avoidance of Value Judgements - aviods value judgements, gets rid of labels, doesn't categorise.

4) Fragmentation of Representation:

• Aceeptance that 'Everything is a copy of a copy of a copy' - nothing is original.
• Destruction of Simplistic, Singular Representations - people are represented in more than one way, people are less two dimensional.

5) Uncertainty and Loss of Context:

• What is 'the truth'? - example 'The Matrix'
• How do I know what's real?
• How do I know who I am?

The Death of Meta-narrative; good/evil, right/wrong.