During this week’s learning we were given a variety of information, some of these being-
Modernism means “truth and rationality” in other words it’s an abstract, a truth of life. Modernism was believed to be an objective and knowable world, that there was believed to be something positive out there. Modernity is the search for definite truth in society.
Postmodernism is the opposite; “suspicion, problemizing” in other words being that there is no truth to life. In other words its interpretations made by different people with different claims to authority e.g. politicians promise their campaigns to be the best but there is no truth, only versions. It asks ‘whose truth’?
“Truth isn’t out there; it’s something that is manufactured. Truth is created”
Imitation means copying something, in literature imitations means a way of working e.g. write a poem in the same style about something different.
Parody is making fun e.g. Weird Al takes the original song and changes the lyrics.
Pastiche is essentially a compendium of intertextual references, like comedians their jokes depend on situations, people or objects.
Intertextuality takes only one thing e.g. Weird Al, although its parody it takes the original song and changes the lyrics. Or The Simpsons, they normally have 1 guest star. Or take a look at the next two Pepsi adverts, one is pastiche and one is intertextual. The one with Britney alone is intertextual and the one with Britney, Beyoncé and Pink is pastiche.
Remediation means each medium effects the text. In a book it sounds great, in a film it wouldn’t.
Hyperreality means something which is overhyped into reality e.g. Lapland, where they take children to see ‘Santa Clause’, the place is always hyped up during Christmas, nothing is unhappy outside of it. The place is not realistic, but it is constant. Disneyland is also a good example, I will refer Disneyland a bit later on in reference to this weeks reading.
As a part of this weeks reading the majority of the class read ‘Simulacra and Simulations’ by Baudrillard, in order to understand this difficult reading I had to break down many of the sentences, I started with trying to understand the meaning of the title, research stated that Simulacra means a likeness or similarity and that Simulations means imitations of real things. They believe today “it is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal”, here is a list of what they believe are the phases of the images;
“1. It is the reflection of a basic reality” e.g. an icon of God
2. It masks and perverts a basic reality” e.g. politics of God
3. It masks the absence of a basic reality” e.g. No God
4. It bears no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pure simulacrum” Simulacrum of religion.
2. It masks and perverts a basic reality” e.g. politics of God
3. It masks the absence of a basic reality” e.g. No God
4. It bears no relation to any reality whatever: it is its own pure simulacrum” Simulacrum of religion.
It was stated that “there is no longer any God to recognize his own, nor any last judgment to separate truth from false, the real from its artificial resurrection, since everything is already dead and risen in advance.”
I do believe that hyperreality exists all over the place, because we have occasions where people get together, and involve themselves in cultural events e.g. Christmas, Halloween, Birthdays.
Each of these has its own traits for example Christmas contains getting a Christmas tree and decorating it, followed by Christmas day, giving of gifts and the traditional turkey dinner. Whilst Halloween contains dressing up in scary outfits during the night, trick or treating, and carving pumpkins. There’s hyperreality through text as well, and can be created through conventions, everyone gathers together doing role-play, TV shows like Big Brother, advertisement – its product is all that matters. Pornography is also a good example of hyperreality because it is always played out perfect, perfect bodies and perfect sex.
This week’s reading has some fantastic quotes about how Disneyland applies to hyperreality; “Disneyland is a perfect model of all the entangled orders of simulation. To begin with it is a play of illusions and phantasms: pirates, the frontier, future world, etc” and “In this imaginary world the only phantasmagoria is in the inherent warmth and affection of the crowd”. “Disneyland is presented as imaginary in order to make us believe that the rest is real, when in fact all Los Angeles and the America surrounding it are no longer real,, but of the order of hyperreal and of simulation. It is no longer a question of a false representation of reality (ideology), but of concealing the fact that the real is no longer real, and this of saving the reality principle.” A reason why I believe that Disneyland is so popular is because adults remember watching these Disney films come out when they were children and going there “conceal(s) the fact that real childishness is everywhere, particularly among those adults who go there to act the child in order to foster illusions of their real childishness.”
During the 1860-1970’s there was a feeling of a new world, it came around during the industrial revolution, and it was believed that
“Men are the centre of the world- not God”
-Renaissance Enlightenment: Age of Reason
Modernism was believed to be new ways of living
1. Power of reason over ignorance
2. Power of order over disorder
3. Power of science over superstition
The term Postmodernism was created in 1968, it was associated with a student riot in Paris, the cause remains unknown but it was the sense of power that was there was overwhelming. It then spreaded to the USA, Britain etc. It was the first time in modern history when ‘Power lay with few rather than many’. It then followed disengagement over politics. Modern view was questioned over a few. People were conned into believed they were getting a better technology, instead they were given weapons of mass destruction, this is a good example of post modernism. French intellectuals believed that we’ve gone into a new age beyond postmodernism.
F.R. Lewis believed that there was a division between high and low culture. He believed only high culture deserved to be studied. Modernism looks as popular culture whilst, postmodernism looks at low culture and believes that anything goes e.g. pop videos, adverts.
So how does Postmodernism and modernism apply to media culture?
There are believed be text codes in media culture; this being, when we watch TV we know whether the programme is a comedy, documentary, drama etc. We then have extra digetic material e.g. in certain programmes like The Simpsons, in some episodes they reference material to real life e.g. an actor, or a film, etc. We are the ones who determine these links, if we don’t know the films or source of the joke then it doesn’t work. I’ve thought about something that makes these links and I have come up with the perfect example which is Scary Movie films, this film is a parody of existing films, e.g. it will recreate a scene from ‘Scream’ but make it funny, which will then lead to a scene from Blair Witch, and then to another film. This film was a hit because it was the first comedy which included this style. Due to the vast audience demand, a series of films followed, based on new releases in the year before. Intertextuality is the language of postmodernism.
Modernism is when we also see symbols the meanings are infinitive. Ronald Bartes believed that there was a structure of looking at symbolism. Symbols are drained from its original meaning e.g. Hitlers pose – he wouldn’t have thought in a few decades time it would represent pure evil.
We also discussed;
Functional value – instrumental purpose.
Exchange value – economic value < getting a fridge for a month’s work.
Symbolic value - a value that a subject assigns to an object < wedding ring.
Sign value – value with a system of objects, no functional value
“Thus the sign (image/representation) bears no relation to any reality whatsoever: it is its own pure simulacrum”
-Baudrillard, 1988, P.170
Due to the mass publishing of images, we get confused with the world around us; one minute we see famine on the news and advertising afterwards for sliming tablets. “How can war and terror be so close to page 3?”
“Media today do not communicate they are building a new equipment for us… electronic reality ….imaginary from the real”
-Christian Kumar
Baudrillard believed that war on TV looks like a war game, meaning is dead and image is everything. Consumptions is a means of being different, social networking – we use it for what is signifies rather than use e.g. popularity.
Reading: J. Baudrillard “Simulacra and Simulations”
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