Postmodernism & Deutschland 83: blog task

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)?

The two characters Borat and Bruno are more likely to be recognised than the actor playing the characters, this shows the postmodern theory of hyperreality, the idea that the reality shown by the media can be seen as more real than reality itself. 


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

"as mediation increases so the culture finds itself losing a sense of historical context. History is now reduced to ‘talking heads’ documentaries and historical knowledge is often based on media representations."

This can be seen in D83 through the song "Sweet dream"

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

The two examples given are:

Big Brother
Paris Hilton (outdated)
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?

High brow entertainment for the elite and powerful, pop culture for the masses.

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

A bricolage is the juxtaposing of old and new products to create a new meaning.
There are two examples of this in D83, one with the shakespeare and Marxism reference and the spy training scene. 

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.

The nostalgia from Deutschland 83 can be linked to postmodernism, an example of this would be the technology, foods and items that were new and or special in the 80's (the walkman) and our new modern day perspective towards them.


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.

Genre: Drama, spy thriller, period drama 

Representation: Show through the representation of both west and east Germanyj

Audience: The show did well in the UK and in the US, but not that well in Germany, this could mean that the show wasn't watched consciously. 


8) Now look at page 4 of the factsheet. How does Deutschland 83 demonstrate aspects of the postmodern in its construction and ideological positioning?



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

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

The bricolage and the pastiche pays homage to the a time period that a lot of viewers are from, this helps to seriously create nostalgia, making it a serious USP for the show.  

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