Wednesday 29 January 2014

Postmodernism requires a highly literate audience. Genre, Derrida, Context and Movies



Jacques Derrida

“The center is not the center. The concept of a centered structure…is contradictorily coherent. And, as always, coherence in contradiction expresses the force of desire.”

The center doesn’t exist naturally, but rather because we need it to in order to make sense of the world around us – however, according to Derrida, this need for and perception of a center [sic] doesn’t necessarily mean that center exists. [Film School Rejects]

In previous lessons we've discussed intertextual references in other texts we've studied. Merely noticing them however doesn't make them postmodern, you've got to know why they are there and what they say about the 'center' [sic].

We know the 'center' as genre, Steve Neale declares that 'genres are instances of repetition and difference' (Neale 1980, 48) you MUST therefore know what is repeated and what is changed.

We need to do this in order to deconstruct any postmodern text, however you must always remember "Genre films are variations on a perceived norm (or center), but if all we have as evidence of genre are variations, then where, exactly, is the center?"

Criticism Of Postmodernism



Fredrick Jameson criticises postmodernism for:



"historical deafness" - things are taken out of the context and therefore lack meaning. This negatively impacts upon our knowledge of history


a breakdown of the distinction between "high" and "low" culture.


depthlessness - 
postmodernism is pastiche, humourlessly referencing itself and other texts in a vacuous and meaningless cycle

Tuesday 28 January 2014

Essay Plan

"Postmodern media manipulate time and space". To what extent does this definition apply to texts you have studied?

Topic - postmodernism
Aspect - texts
Viewpoint - manipulates time and space
Instruction - apply to texts





Opinion
   Postmodernism is a rejection of absolutes, therefore it manipulates 'fact' into a different reality. Time and space are considered absolutes, thus postmodernism disregards them - creating a new truth.