"Postmodernism is difficult" - Perspectives

Today was our first perspectives lecture with Phil. Below are my notes from the lecture. Post modernism is a mood rather than a discipline which attempts to find new and more truthful versions of the world.

Publications to research

• Federic Jameson - "The Cultural Turn"
• Stuart Sim - "The Routledge Companion to Postmodernism"
• Dick Hebdige - "Hiding in the light"
• "Postmodernism for Beginners"
• Marshall Bearman - "All that is solid melts into the air"
• http://www.academia.edu/4863266/The_ironic_response_to_nostalgia_in_the_postmodern_condition

Key ideas of Postmodernism

• Skeptical - the idea that clear knowledge of what Postmodernism is is impossible
• Relative - the idea that one's experience and representation of postmodernism depends on the individual's own experiences, culture and history. 
• Disputed - the idea that there are many different ways that postmodernism can be interpreted and presented, and that no one is the real one
• High modernism - characterised by an unfaltering belief that science and technology is a means of reordering the social and natural world.
• Capitalism - an economic and political state in which the country's trade and economy are controlled by private individuals for profit, rather than by the state. 
• Superabundance - excessively, or exceedingly abundant in something
• Simulacra - a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance. 
• Flippant - frivolously disrespectful, or lacking in seriousness.
• Disconnect - the idea that something is distanced from its original form or purpose and presented in a new way
• Pop - A popular image or something that is commonly in the public zeitgeist. Pop art was an era of postmodernism that used repetition of popular imagery to build upon. 
• Fragmentary - consisting of small disconnected or incomplete parts
• Eclectic nostalgia - the idea of a feeling in the common zeitgeist of a longing for the past, the luxuries of it and the moods we are shown through portrayals of it, perhaps to avoid the challenging environment we live in today. 
• Superficiality - lack of thoroughness, depth of character or serious thought. 

Different definitions of Postmodernism

• postmodern culture is apocalyptic
• postmodernism is schizoid
• postmodernism is power
• postmodernism is political correctness gone mad
• postmodernism is self-obsessed
• postmodernism is a sell-out (capitalism and narcissistic)
• postmodernism is blasphemous
• postmodernism is dangerous
• postmodernism is creative
• postmodernism is unimaginative
• postmodernism is bullshit
• postmodernism is EVERYWHERE
• postmodernism is NOW!

The Sokal Hoax

A famous physics professor decided to test just how rediculous the state of social studies had become and decided to publish a paper through a public journal that was a complete load of rubbish. It got past 5 well respected scholars and was due to be published before he admitted what he had done.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2003/jun/05/badscience.research

https://www.jstor.org/stable/1344279?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents

https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/1.882436

Examples of Postmodern media

• Stranger things
• Simpsons
• Gogglebox
• Lego Movie
• Youtube
• Go Compare adverts
• Malificent
• Shrek
• Lady Gaga
• Deadpool
• Wicked
• American Horror Story
• La la land
• Ready Player One
• Cosplayers
• Trump
• Fake News
• Black Mirror
• Annihilation
• Heathers the musical

Kill Bill Vol. 1

We also watched Kill Bill vol. 1. Following this we were asked to think about how the film demonstrated Postmodern imagery and representations. 

• Non-Linear Timeline - the film is basically broken up into episodes with each one covering a different important event in her life. 
• Different styles of film making represented - Samurai, Anime, Western, Film Noir etc.
• Use of elements that are generally commercially unacceptable - Rape, swearing, extreme violence.
• Mixed Languages - Overall English language with Japanese and subtitling. 
• Use of Sound - over the top and rediculous sound effects, and fight sounds tracks for comedy.
• Use of colour - sudden switches between black and white, and colour, and split screens. 
• Physics Breaks - limbs removed very very easily, jumps much higher than normal, basically physics doesnt work.