Postmodernism Flashcards
What is Postmodernism?
Postmodernism was created by Jean Baudrillard (1929-2007) challenges the grand narratives of Functionalism and Marxism by arguing that society is fragmented and diverse.
What is hyperreality?
Hyperreality is a concept from postmodernism referring to a state where the distinction between reality and simulated reality collapses. Coined by Jean Baudrillard hyperreality suggests that in a media-saturated world representations become more real than reality itself. In this state people interact more with simulations of reality than reality itself.
Examples of this include Disneyland where you have the ability to walk into an idealised and controlled version of reality that feels more real than the real world; social media - an interactive platform that filters real life through highly constructed illusions that remove the more mundane and negative parts of life showing a solely positive representation of life; news and propaganda can shape perceptions so much that stories portrayed in the media become more well known than the actual event it is based on.
What is a Postmodernist view on family and household?
Postmodernists argue that family structures are diverse. Stacey highlighted how women create diverse family types beyond the classic nuclear family. Giddons emphasised choice and individualism suggesting relationships are now based on confluent love rather than traditional expectations.
What is a Postmodernist view on media?
Postmodernists believe that in our modern day and our vast accessibility to media (e.g. portable devices like smartphones), has blurred reality with the media we consume feeling more real than the world around us.
What is Postmodernist view on social inequality?
Postmodernists argue that class is no longer the main determiner of inequality.
Pakulki and Waters claim that identity is now shaped by life choices and our individual rate of consumption rather than overall economic position (e.g. rich people that are cheapskates, poor people that spend on drugs/gambling - more what you do with your money rather than how much you have)
