This document provides an introduction to postmodernism. It begins by discussing some previous artistic movements and "isms" that preceded postmodernism. It then addresses some of the key concepts of postmodernism, including an inability to create anything truly new, experimentation with existing forms, and a loss of clear distinctions between high and low art. The document goes on to define and provide examples of several postmodern features, such as pastiche, parody, intertextuality, and self-reflexivity. It concludes by discussing how postmodern artists attempt to create new works in a postmodern world and assigns the students a homework task analyzing a postmodern text using some of the key terms and concepts covered.

1. Postmodernism lesson 1
L/O:
In this lesson you will be able to …..
Introduce to the basic ideas about Postmodernism and consider it's origins
Address basic themes and concepts that make something Postmodern
Consider the wider effects of Postmodernism on yourself
Address assessment objectives and exam criteria

2. ISM’s before postmoderISM
Ism's: A History
Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-
21st Century)

3. Ism's: A History
Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)
BAROQUE

4. Ism's: A History
Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)
ROMANTIC

5. Ism's: A History
Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)
REALISM

6. Ism's: A History
Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)
MODERN

7. Ism's: A History
Artistic/Cultural Movements (17th-21st Century)
POSTMODERN

8. Key Concept: Postmodernism
• Postmodernism is a very big and complicated concept to get
your head round, but in its simplest form it attempts to
analyse society and culture now.
• It is the central idea behind new fashion, music and film - put
simply postmodernists believes that artistic creativity and
"newness" can no longer happen as in today's society
everything has been done?

9. Some Key points
• Inability to create anything new
• Experimentation with existing forms and
conventions
• Loss of the "real"
• General pessimism and lack of purpose
• Technology increasing important in social
interaction

10. What makes something
Postmodern?
(the pomo features)

11. Generic Hybridisation
• Put simply this is when a text
mixes the elements of two or
more genres together
• Example: “Shaun of the Dead”
– Horror zombie comedy parody british
• Suggests that you cannot
create anything new anymore?

12. Intertextuality • This is when a
text makes
deliberate
references to
other media
texts by stealing
bits of it
• Example:
• “The Simpsons”
(Sopranos)
&
• (Clockwork
Orange)
• Possibly suggests that we constantly repeat rather than create new things?
• Intertextuality is the shaping of texts' meanings by other texts. It can refer to an author’s
borrowing and transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s referencing of one text in
reading another.

13. Intertextuality
A text’s reference to other texts.
This is the shaping of texts' meanings by
other texts.
It can refer to an author’s borrowing and
transformation of a prior text or to a reader’s
referencing of one text in reading another.

14. Intertextuality
Pastiche
ParodyHomage
Satire

15. Pastiche
• A pastiche is a work of art, literature, film, music or
architecture that closely imitates the work of a previous
artist, usually distinguished from parody in the sense that it
celebrates rather than mocks the work it imitates.
• A medley of various ingredients... Denotes a technique
using a generally light hearted, tongue-in-cheek imitation
of another’s style. Although it is jocular (humorous), it is
respectful (unlike parody).
• Alternately, a pastiche may be a hodge-podge of parts
derived from the original work of others.

16. • Pastiche is prominent in popular culture.
• Many genre pieces, particularly in fantasy, are essentially pastiches.
• George Lucas’ Star Wars series is often considered to be a pastiche of
traditional science fiction television serials or radio shows.
• They can be seen as a pastiche of 1930s science fiction cliffhanger serials
like Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers. Some would argue that it blends
elements of samurai, American western, and sci-fi film genres.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh8KVG8j68I flash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjNlyWxwCac buck rogers

17. The films of Quentin Tarantino are often
described as pastiches, with their
mixing and blurring of generic
conventions and boundaries.
Kill Bill (2003) pays tribute to (or
perhaps imitates) numerous genres;
(next slide)
-though some say his films are more of
a homage.

18. Kung fu / martial arts
& Japanese anime
Western films
-pulp novels/comics
(themes of
adventure/horror)
blaxploitation
(70’s)
grindhouse
(venues that showed exploitation
films….showed pornographic/high sex,
slasher horror or dubbed martial arts films)
Kill Bill (2003) pays tribute to (or perhaps imitates) numerous genres;

19. Kung fu / martial arts
& Japanese anime
Western films
blaxploitation
(70’s)
grindhouse
(venues that showed exploitation
films….showed pornographic/high sex,
slasher horror or dubbed martial arts films)

20. Homage
• Mixing and blurring of generic conventions and
boundaries.
• Film or director pays tribute (some believe
imitates) to previous distinctive styles/genres
• Homage is generally used to mean any public
show of respect to someone to whom you feel
indebted (worthy of dedication). In this sense, a
reference within a creative work to someone who
greatly influenced the artist would be a homage

21. Homage example
• Johnathan Glazer’s music video for Blur’s The
Universal paid homage to Stanley Kubrick’s
film Clockwork Orange).

22. Homage Example
• ChinatownWhen Nicholas has
discovered the secret of
Sandford and is trying to get
Danny to help him take the
village down, Danny says
"Forget it Nicholas, It's Sandford"
• a reference to Chinatown's
"Forget it Jake, it's Chinatown"

23. Parody
• A parody (also called spoof), is an imitative
work created to mock, comment on or
trivialise an original work, its subject, author,
style, or some other target, by means
of satiric or ironic imitation.
• Most of the humour in recent parodies of film
genres is based on our familiarity with formula
plots, conventions and characters.

24. Duchamp's parody of the
Mona Lisa adds a goatee
and moustache.
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da
Vinci. Original painting from
circa 1503 – 1507.

25. Parody in Duchamp (mona lisa)
• Marcel Duchamp's Dadaist painting LHOOQ parodies DaVinci's Mona Lisa
by marring it with a goatee and moustache. In keeping with his Dadist
practices, which called artistic conventions and aesthetic assumptions into
question, DuChamp’s paired his visual parody with a low pun; in French,
"L.H.O.O.Q." sounds like an idiom describing women who sexually tease
men: "elle a chaud au cul," or "she is hot in the ass."

26. Parody & genre (western)
• Some genre theorists see parody as a natural development in the life cycle
of any genre.
• Such theorists note that Western movies, for example, after the classic
stage defined the conventions of the genre, underwent a parody stage, in
which those same conventions were ridiculed and critiqued.
• Because audiences had seen these classic Westerns, they had
expectations for new Westerns, and when these expectations were
subverted, the audience laughed.
• ANOTHER EXAMPLE: horror films – when they become predictable,
(conventions are predictable) they will inevitably become parodies because
they play/mock those predictable conventions (it’s funny because the
audience understands those conventions)

27. Parody Examples
• Films like Scary Movie, Not Another Teen Movie and Team America: World Police first build on
our habitual expectations of their genre and then violate them. Because each of these films
incorporates the plot, characters & conventions of dozens of films, they can be helpful in
studying the genres they parody.

28. Satire is a technique in which a
target is held up for merciless
ridicule. Because satire often
combines anger and humour it
can be profoundly disturbing -
because it is essentially ironic &
sarcastic - it is often
misunderstood.
Although satire is usually witty,
and often very funny, the primary
purpose of satire is not primarily
humour but criticism of an
individual or a group in a witty
manner.
Satire

29. Self Reflexivity
• This is when a “text” points
out to the audience that it is
a “text”.
• This level of self awareness
points to how “texts” are
constructed
• Where a text knows it's a
text and draws attention to
it's structure, production
and/or conventions to the
audience. In doing so, inverts
(reverses) itself reflecting its
own reality rather than an
outside one.
I feel like I’ve been
wearing the same
clothes for 10
Years!
• “Example: “The Simpsons”

30. Self Reflexivity example
• CATFISH
• Makes it known it is making the show (you
can see filming/camerman, NEV talks about it
on camera) …..a lot of direct address etc etc.

31. Juxtaposition
• This is when a collection of opposing elements
all mix together to try and make sense.
• Example: “The Mighty Boosh”
This can often reflect a
confusing a world where
things don’t make any
sense

32. Hyperreality
• Because of all the self- reflexivity,
intertextuality etc, texts become
detached from anything real. This
creates a hyperreal state where
reality is altered and detached
from anything “real”
• It is when a reality is made which
is based on a reality which is not
real
– Think of ‘virtual realities’ or realities
in video games……think of
representation of men/women –
usually ideological and unrealistic
• Example: “The Matrix”

33. High art/culture
Low art/culture
LOW HIGH
Low culture is a derogatory term for popular culture ; everything in
society that has mass appeal.
Low culture is a term for some forms of popular culture that that
have mass appeal.
High culture is a term referring to the "best of breed" (from some
elitist viewpoint) cultural products. What falls in this category is
defined by the most powerful sections of society, i.e. its social,
political, economic and intellectual elite.
Take away meals
Gossip magazines
Best selling books such as ‘50 shades of Grey’
Sports such as basketball and football
Banksy
Shakespeare
Classic art………mona lisa……Picasso…….
Classic literature
Classic music ………..such as the Opera
Theatre

34. Hybrids of high/low
• The line between high and low art is very
blurred in postmodernism
Producing text like this:
Why?

35. How to create new things in an
Postmodern World
Adaptation Adaptation +
Hybridisation
Self-reflexivity
Action
+
Romance?

36. HYBRID JUXTAPOSTION BRICOLAGE
REALITY TV SHOWS
(doc+game
show+soap) to form
new meaning/conventions
+
= gay?

37. Nothing new (mostly films)

38. Other pomo features
• (Look on your handout)
• Non linear narratives
• Artificialness
• Dystopian narratives (& pessimism)
• Flattening of effect
• Non realism
• Voyerism & panopticanisation

39. Postmodernism WIKI
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism
• If you want to do more reading……

40. Summary of POMO Key terms

41. Homework (assign #1)
Set: Fri Jan
Due: Fri Jan 29 (1 week)
• A) revise all key terms
• B) Assignment 1: Something Postmodern
• Create a presentation on something postmodern (a text)
(film, TV, advertising, music video, video game or online media)
• Must have at least 2-3 key terms
• The newer, the better – nothing more than 3 years old
• The more key terms you can apply, the better (an A/B would have at least 5+)
• If you choose a text from the sheet or the powerpoint, it must have at least 4
elements and you must describe them all (can’t get higher than B)
• *If doing a film: take screen grabs – can’t show more than 3 min video
• EMAIL ME ONCE YOU HAVE CHOSEN AND I WILL APPROVE (can’t have overlapping)