Postmodernism is a general and wide-ranging term which is applied to many disciplines, including literature, art, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. Postmodernism is largely a reaction to the assumed certainty of scientific or objective efforts to explain reality. In essence, it is based on the position that reality is not mirrored in human understanding of it, but is rather constructed as the mind tries to understand its own personal reality. Postmodernism is therefore skeptical of explanations which claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person. In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, arguing that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain and universal.
Jean Baudrillard and Post-modernity
Post-modernity in Music Videos
How Does Postmodern media differ from other media?
Postmodernism is a theory that became recognised after world war one in a reaction against modernism due to its feature of rejecting grand narratives. Furthermore, postmodern texts can be easily recognised as they generically include features such as: pastiche, homage, bricolage, irony and intertextuality in order to make their texts cohesive. Postmodernism also rejects ideas of reflecting reality and instead emphasises constructed fiction whilst playing on the audiences suspension of disbelief, and this too is what differs postmodernism from other media.
Firstly, Gavin and Stacey is a British sitcom that is easily identified as being postmodern as a result of the inclusion of features that are common to postmodern texts. For example, the fourth episode of the third series is recognised as being the most postmodern episode as it includes features of irony, pastiche and intertextual references. In this scene two characters are renewing their vows; however the males' (Pete) vows are actually song lyrics from Coldplay's "Fix You". This in turn highlights the pastiche and intertextual references of the episode as this will be humorous for the audience as ut us debited as Pete making a mockery of a serious and important event. In addition, his wife (Dawn) then responds with vows that are from Michael Jackson's "Ben" in which Jackson is expressing his feelings towards a rat, This is what differs postmodern texts from other media texts as the irony of the pastiche used will position the audience to believe that Dawn us calling her husband a rat.
Moreover, Edgar Wright's 'Scott Pilgrim vs. the World' (2010) is another postmodern text and this too includes the key features needed so that it differentiates itself from other media texts. In this example bricolage is heavily involved and can be denoted in the fact that the film is of the action/sci-fi genre, however it still includes features of a sit-com and love story. This jumbling of genres clearly reflects how postmodern media differs from other texts as it cannot be easily grouped or categorised as a result of its hybrid genres. Also, in relation to Baudrillard's theory of the hyperreal 'Scott Pilgrim' is a great example as the audience cannot tell if the film is meant to be set in a reality r a video game, and it is this flattening of boundaries that assists the text in being postmodern and unique compared to other media texts as it has no barriers or set rules to follow.
Video games are also an example of how postmodern texts differ from other media texts and this can be recognised through the award winning franchise 'Asssasin's Creed'. A.C. uses effects of the theorist "Strinati" in order to determine its game as being postmodern, and those are: the confusion of time and space, and the distortion between reality and the hyperreal. The game uses a machine in order to make the character go into his past and relive the memories of his ancestors, and it is the ability of time travel that erodes the boundaries of time and space; differencing the text from others and makes it postmodern. Alternatively, A.C. uses bricolage- like other postmodern texts- in order to mix key historic features with new and futuristic technology. The game is set in the peak of high art and includes historical figures such as Da Vinci and Machiavelli, but these historic values are then subverted by the futuristic technology. Yet again this reflects how postmodern media differs from media texts as it is daring, and challenges ideas that have already taken place, and re-writes history for the audiences entertainment, and this conveys the ideas of Jameson who stated that historical values are being lost as new texts are being created.
To conclude, the postmodernism has many set features which should be included within a text in order to differentiate it from other media texts. For example, fragmentation, dark humour, bricolage, pastiche and intertextuality. Although, they also show a lack of concern for historical correctness, objective truths and morality which contradicts the rules of other media texts where these values are respected, valued and therefore not usually broken. Ultimately, postmodern retxts can be very difficult to define from other media as these features are common conventions in many texts that are not postmodern, and theorists argue that every text is postmodern as everything is now being created in a postmodern environment. This then leaves us to question if there will be an answer to postmodernism that will further divide texts, and this could surely spell the end for grand narratives as more platforms are created thus making it more difficult to group and categorise texts.
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