Postmodernism & Deutschland 83: blog task

Postmodernism & Deutschland 83: blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #54: Introduction to Postmodernism. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets - you'll need to save the factsheet to USB or email it to yourself in order to complete this at home. Read the factsheet and answer the following questions:

1) Read the section on Strinati's five ways to define postmodernity. What examples are provided of the breakdown of the distinction between culture and society (media-isation)?

1. ‘Media-isation’ of culture – we make sense of reality using media texts
2. Emphasis of style over substance e.g. celebrity, reality TV
3. Breakdown of difference between art and popular culture
4. Confusion over time and space – modern society is built on the instantaneous
5. Decline of meta-narratives or grand narratives (e.g. religion or political theories such as communism)

2) What is Fredric Jameson's idea of 'historical deafness'? How can the idea of 'historical deafness' be applied to Deutschland 83?

"The idea of ‘historical deafness’ by suggesting the media-isation of history means we only understand historical events through their media representation."

We understand the world through the media's representation of history.

3) What examples and theories are provided for the idea of 'style over substance'?

Bricolage and pastiche.

5) What is bricolage? What examples of bricolage can be found in Deutschland 83?

"Bricolage
The juxtaposing of old and new texts, images, ideas and narratives to create new meanings."

6) How can the audience pleasures of Deutschland 83 be linked to postmodernism? Read 'The decline of meta-narratives' and 'Media texts and the postmodern' to help answer this.

As a postmodern text, Deutschland 83 rejects meta-narratives such as communism in favour of less all-encompassing ideals. This mirrors the postmodern audience's ideology. Additionally, if we're looking at 'historical deafness', audiences base their understanding off of the media's representations, making it "information/surveillance". 

7) Read the analysis of media concepts and postmodern approaches on page 3 of the factsheet. Choose three of the concepts and write an example from Deutschland 83. Clue: genre, representation, ideology and audience would all be good options for this task.

genre

Traditional spy genre texts use the expected codes and conventions.

Deutschland 83 mixes genres and conventions in a postmodern style.

representation

Traditional media texts would have more one dimensional characters based on stereotype whereas Deutschland 83 humanizes both the East and West.

audience
Traditional audiences were believed to be more passive, accepting whatever stereotypes were presented on TV as the real deal. 

Deutschland's audience has been encouraged to consider the characters to be 3 dimensional, regardless of what side they are from.

8) Now look at page 4 of the factsheet. How does Deutschland 83 demonstrate aspects of the postmodern in its construction and ideological positioning?

The dramatization of real life events creates "hyper-reality" for viewers.

9) Which key scenes from Deutschland 83 best provide examples of postmodernism? Why?

The scenes where they flesh Martin out as a character, giving unconventional sympathy to an alternative ideology.

10) Why might audiences enjoy the postmodern aspects of Deutschland 83? What audience pleasures might elements of bricolage or pastiche provide viewers?

The root of the series is grounded in convention, giving viewers familiar iconographies to reward them as well as modern ideologies forced into the time period to further allow viewers to relate.