Postmodernism

Question 1

What is Postmodernism?

Answer 1

Refers to a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism.

Question 2

Name 3 identifiable elements of postmodernism.

Answer 2

1 - the decline of party politics and trade unionism

2 - the collapse of communism and a belief in the ability of governments to centrally plan societies

3 - insecurity and uncertainty

4 - media-saturated society with instantaneous communication

5 - an emphasis on difference rather than uniformity

6 - increasing emphasis on the importance of style and the visual

Question 3

What is there a greater sense of in postmodernism culture?

Answer 3

“anything goes”, with audiences constructing their own meanings from a range of cultural and media artefacts.

Question 4

What did Lyotard suggest?

Answer 4

in a postmodern period, over-arching theories or explanations of the world, or metanarratives, such as Marxism, capitalism, religion and science have been debunked leading to greater instability in society.

It is questionable as to whether this is the case.

Question 5

What did Baudrillard argue?

Answer 5

We live in an era of hyperreality, whereby the daily world and the world of media are merging and media texts seem more real than the world they seek to convey. In this world media merely represents other media; it is a simulacrum.

Question 6

What does hyperreality mean?

Answer 6

The process of the evolution of notions of reality, leading to a cultural state of confusion between signs and symbols invented to stand in for reality, and direct perceptions of consensus reality.

Question 7

What does simulacrum mean?

Answer 7

An image or representation of someone or something; an unsatisfactory imitation or substitute

Question 8

Haraway argues that…?

Answer 8

The ability to construct identities unrestrained by the restrictions of our physical bodies is one of the most liberating elements of cyberspace