Today we will be studying the theory– “Postmodernism” and in particular within Media texts. We will analyse the theory and its various strands, this is so we can apply the theory to the texts studied in preparation for the exam and more urgently texts studied and analysed for your investigation.

1.The general theory2.The Remix3.The Hybrid4.Intertextuality5.Parody/Pastiche6.Hyperreality; Post modern representation of reality

Post Modernism

Postmodernists claim that in a media-saturated world, where we are constantly immersed in media, 24/7, on the move, at work, at home,

the distinction between reality and the media representation of it becomes blurred or even entirely invisible to us. We have come to the stage where we are copying copies and reality and identity is becoming blurred. In other words, we no longer have any sense of the difference between real things and images of them. The theory suggests everything now has been made and all we can now do to

find glimpses of originality is to mix two old things together.

Post modernism is also blurring the object to time identity.

Post Modernism – The theory

50’s 60’s

70’s

The present

Post modern texts are ‘remixed’ through pastiche, hybridity, parody and intertextual references. By mixing texts together you gain value and characteristics from the ones that came before. This can be cleverly used to your advantage.For example if I create a Hybrid film, how does that benefit me, as a director, who’s aim is to make money?

Post Modernism – The ReMix - Hybrid

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Intertexuality

•Is the relationship which are forged between different texts•This could be classified simplistically as a texts influence

•The concept of intertextuality reminds us that each text exists in relation to others. In fact, texts owe more to other texts than

to their own makers•A television program, for instance, may be part of a series and part of a genre, thus some of the text is already created before

it begins•Texts provide contexts within which other texts may be

created and interpreted

How does Stellar add value to their product?

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• In order to make sense of the Absolut Vodka advertisement you need to know what to look for. Such expectations are established by reference to one's previous experience in looking at similar advertisements. Once we know that we are looking for the shape of the bottle, it is easier to perceive it. Modern visual advertisements make extensive use of intertextuality in this way. Sometimes there is no direct reference to the product at all. Instant identification of the appropriate interpretative codes serves to identify the interpreter of the advertisement as a member of an exclusive club, with each act of interpretation serving to renew one's membership.

Post Modernism is helping us deconstruct texts

Parody/Pastiche

These films do not belong on themselves, they are copying copiesThey imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comedy

The mass media were once thought of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality to what you the individual would see in your local environment

Traditional media representation of reality

Now that reality is only definable in terms of the reflections of that mirror. It is no longer a question of distortion since the term implies that there is a reality, outside the surface simulations of the media, which can be distorted, Now we are copying copies and representing hyper reality as reality and thus being influenced by a fake reality, the actual reality seems to have been lost, so what is reality now?

Post Modernism representation of reality

‘Pure’ reality is thus replaced by the hyperreal where any boundary between the real and the imaginary is eroded. What we see on television, we see as the real and thus copy it within our lives, so the real is being lost unconciously. This influenced the film the Matrix.

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