George Ritzer (1996) suggested that postmodernism usually refers to a cultural movement – postmodernist cultural products such as architecture, art, music, films, TV, adverts etc.
Ritzer also suggested that postmodern culture is signified by the following:
• The breakdown of the distinction between high culture and mass culture. (Think: Black Swan-a film about a prima ballerina laced with a liberal dose of crowd pleasing sex and (psychological) violence.)
• The breakdown of barriers between genres and styles. (Think: Django Unchained - a mixture of spaghetti western, drams, action film, serious comment on slavery.)
• Mixing up of time, space and narrative. (Think: Inception or The Mighty Boosh.)
• Emphasis on style rather than content. (Think: Little Mix, One Direction.)
• The blurring of the distinction between representation and reality. (Think: TOWIE or Celebrity Big Brother.)
The French theorist Baudrillard argues that contemporary society increasingly reflects the media; that the surface image becomes increasingly difficult to distinguish from the reality. Think about all the times you have heard an actor on a soap-opera say, that when they are out and about, people refer to them by their character’s name. Look at The Sun’s website and search stories on Nicholas Hoult when he was in Skins: he is predominantly written about as though he is ‘Tony’, his character in Skins.
Key terms:
• intertextuality – one media text referring to another
• parody – mocking something in an original way
• pastiche – a stylistic mask, a form of self-conscious imitation
• homage – imitation from a respectful standpoint
• bricolage – mixing up and using different genres and styles
• simulacra – simulations or copies that are replacing ‘real’ artefacts
• hyperreality – a situation where images cease to be rooted in reality
• fragmentation – used frequently to describe most aspects of society, often in relation to identity
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