Monday 15 March 2010

Lecture 6- Postmodernism and the mass media

Modernism is associated with - expressionism
- innovation
- individualism
- progress
- purity
- originality
- seriousness

The postmodern condition is characterised by - exhaustion
- pluralism
- pessimism
- disillusionment of the idea of absolute knowledge

Modernism is an expression of modern life, technology, new materials, communication (postmodernity)

Origins of postmodernism
- 1917 - a German writer called Rudolph Pannwitz spoke of 'nihili stic, amoral, postomdern men'.
- 1964 - Leslie Fielder described a 'post' culture, which rejected the elitist values of modern culture.
- The begginings of post modernism was in rthe 1960s
- Post modernism was established as a term in the 1970s by Jencks
- During the 1980s it became a recognisable term
- between the 1980s to the 90s it was the dominant theoretical discourse.
- and today post modernism is tired and simmering

Uses of the term 'postmodernism'
- After modernism
-The historical era following modern
- Contra modernism
- Equivalent to 'late capitalism'
- Aritstic and stylistic electicism
- 'Global village' phenomena; globalisation of cultures, races, images, capital, products




AT&T building, Philip Johnson NYC 1982



Frank Gehry, Guggenheim museum, Bilbao 1997

JF Lyotard
'The postmodern Condition' 1979
'incredulity towards metanarratives'
metanarratives = totalising belief systems
Results = Crisis in confidence.

Post modern Aesthetics:
Complexity, chaos, mixing materials/styles (brieolage), reusing images: parody & irony




- Roy Lichtenstein 'This must be the place' 1965

At the end of the 1950s the purest form of modernist paintings was FORMALISM theorised by the critic Clemant Greenberg.

"Advertising is the greatest art from of the 20th century" - Marshall McLuhan.

Crisis in confidence
- BUT also freedom and new possibilities
- Questioning old limitations
- Space for marginalised discourse: Sexual diversity & multiculturalism

'Neo TV' - Umberto Eco.
- TV quiz shows about TV shows
- Out take shows
- TV news items about TV celebrities
- 'Reality TV'

Postmodernism

- Avague disputed term
- Post modernist attitude of questioning conventions (especially modernism)
- Post modernist aesthetic = multiplicity of styles and approaches
- Shift in thought & theory investigating 'crisis in confidence'
- Space for 'new voices'
- Rejection of technological determinism?



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