Postmodernism

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)?

One example provided of the break down of the distinction between culture and society are the characters played by the actor Sacha Baron Cohen due to the fact the characters he plays, he brings them to life and they are considered as 'real' to their audiences. The way in which he does this is by only being interviewed in character and not as him self. This gives him a type of power to be able to get away with saying and doing certain things he would not be able to do out of character.Another example of the break down of the distinction between culture and society are X Factor contestants who sing covers of previous songs that have already been made and covered by other artists.  For instance John and Edward sang 'We Will Rock You' ~ Queen but performed 'the five year' version.

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

Jameson's suggests that the idea historical deafness is mediation increasing resulting in the culture slowlylosing a sense of historical context. He suggests that historical events are being shown to audiences through themedias representation of it. He suggests the evens have been reduced to "talking heads" documentaries. This could be applied to Deutschland 83 as it is fair to say most of its audience will not have known much about the cold war and would be dependant on the show to learn more about it. However the show does not depict an accurate representation of the horrors of the events and almost romanticises it.

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

An example given given about the emphasis on style over substance s that people are heavily influenced by branding. This is because the label becomes more important than the actual product and the packaging is more important than the contents. It is suggested that people will high prices for a logo. Another example of the idea of style overpowering substance is the rise of reality TV celebrities. It implies that many of todays celebrities are famous for being famous rather than being identifiable with a talent or ability. An example of this type of rise to fame is Big Brother. Jameson suggested that this idea creates a 'cultural depthlessness'. Similarly to Baudrillard he sees the culture as something where all meaning is lost and left to how it appears on the surface. However Jameson also argues that it is sometimes contradicted by outrageous claims for extreme emotion. An example of this would be when a celebrity dies and there is a shared sense of grief.

4) What examples from music are provided for the breakdown of the distinction between art and popular culture? Can this be applied to Deutschland 83?

Hugh art like visual arts were only accessible to the elites and low art to the masses. Pop music(low) often samples classical(high). Advertising (low) makes references to visual art (high) or uses classical music (high) to sell a product.Low art is accessible to the masses only. Back in East Germany the music in the house was popular culture(low art), and then in the West the girl singing was popular culture low art but the father liked high art classical. The elite or ones in power have access to high art.

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

Bricolage: The juxtaposition between old and new texts; images; ideas and narratives to create new meanings.

The opening scene referencing Karl Marx and Shakespeare books in education is a reference to high and low culture. In the spy training sequence the distinction between the brands we saw in the 80s and what we see now is also bricolage. The speeches of the leaders in supermarket scene and the title sequence of the East and West German speeches are all archived footage.

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.

Audiences love to see archived footage of the speeches and love the 80s culture of tech and music. The 'grand-narrative' of the show are the events around Able Archer but the show does focus on the fall of communism and the USSR. Meta-narratives were therefore less applicable to the world as communism was falling. Postmodernism doesn't look to one single truth to explain the world, therefore Deutschland '83 is more postmodern.

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.

The representation of the main character from someone from East Germany as a spy. Normally he would be the antagonist in a traditional Cold War series but as the protagonist it subverts the expectations.The main character Martin/Moritz is a spy that is seen as the enemy to the rest of the world, but is trying to protect the East from attacks. So, from this he is seen with god intentions, but when he has to harm the general's relative the party, the bad intentions are seen as evil normally but he has to do it to save his cover, so once again is seen with good intentions. There is no clear cut binary opposition, it is subjective.The idea that different groups of the audience respond differently is evident. The UK and US had a positive outlook on the show but the German native audience didn't like it as much. Audiences are active when it comes to decision making and the performance of a media text.

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 entire show is based on real events but the narrative of the show is fictional. The mise-en-scene in the scenes are used to make the show feel as authentic as possible to strengthen the narrative. The characters are fictional in a sense, therefore the hyper-real narrative gives the show the postmodernist aspects.

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

The spy scene is probably one of the best examples. The training sequence has that James Bond feel where there is a two minute montage spanning several weeks watching his skills develop but also the cinematography is liked we are watching him and that we are spying on him. The intertextaulity mixed with the mise-en-scene which reinforces the realism of the 80s makes this scene a great example of postmodernism

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

The show is based around the popular culture of the 80s. This type of show would usually be watched by the masses, the consumers and not the producers. The aspects of intertextaulity is something that people enjoy a lot down to the tech to the costumes and sounds. The bricolage aspects of authenticity with the archived footage and the documents of the East German targeted strikes gives the audiences pleasure that the detail was looked into in depth. The Pastiche of the mise-en-scene such as the cars, costumes, music and TV Set gives audiences the pleasure of nostalgia.