Independent Research

#1
Postmodernity (also spelled post-modernity or termed the postmodern condition) is generally used to describe the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist after modernity. Some schools of thought hold that modernity ended in the late 20th century, in the 1980s or early 1990s replaced by postmodernity, while others would extend modernity to cover the developments denoted by postmodernity, while some believe that modernity ended after World War II. Postmodernity can mean a personal response to a postmodern society, the conditions in a society which make it postmodern or the state of being that is associated with a postmodern society. In most contexts it should be distinguished from post modernism, the conscious, unconscious and/or subconscious adoption of postmodern philosophies or traits in art, literature, culture and society.

#2
Kick-Ass is edging on hyperality- Comic book geeks turned vigilantes make their superhero fantasies a bloody reality in this dark action-comedy. Kick-Ass is postmodern because it constructs itself in so many different ways, and some of them are mutually contradictory. This film is trying to do a lot of things at once and the success of this film is contingent upon the success or failure of the others. It is a action movie with lots of quick choreography, gory fight scenes and lots of melodramatic speeches, however in this film it is also a concept movie. , Kick-Ass tries to construct a comic book universe that’s highly self-aware, wrapping it in some conventions that move toward realism (brutality, references to current events, the cynicism of the first half), and in other conventions that intentionally move toward self-conscious stylization. One of the subtexts of the “deconstructive” aspect of Kick-Ass is its statement on the “reality” of crime and the vigilante lifestyle Kick-Ass’s in cohesive aesthetic could be seen as a merit or a flaw. Does the movie sabotage itself by setting up some expectations for “concept” and then betraying them for the sake of cheap thrills

#3
 Here’s a presentation that I found… Modernism And Postmodernism View more presentations from Rob McMinn What modernist ideas has postmodernism challenged? The word ‘postmodern’ requires us to consider, briefly, what is meant by modernism. Modernism is a term applied to various movements in art and culture at the end of the C19th and in the first half of the C20th. Much as there is not a single definition of postmodernism, it is impossible to define a single, coherent set of ideas to which we can attach the name modernism. Wikipedia suggests that ‘The term encompasses the activities and output of those who felt the “traditional” forms of art, architecture, literature, religious faith, social organization and daily life were becoming outdated in the new economic, social and political conditions of an emerging fully industrialized world.’ For our purposes, the most relevant thing to remember is that modernist artists and writers experimented with the representation of reality. By comparison, in postmodernism, ‘the idea of representation gets ‘remixed’, played around with, through pastiche, parody and intertextual references – where the people that make texts deliberately expose their nature as constructed texts and make no attempt to pretend that they are ‘realist’.’ (JM, 137) Postmodernism also reacts against modernism’s optimistic belief in the benefits of science and technology. Much modernist work was seen as difficult, elitist and very much belonging to the world of ‘High Art’ and dismissive of ‘Low Art’. By comparison, postmodernism, in its deliberate counter-culture positioning and its embrace of popular/low culture, challenges modernism’s hostility towards mass culture

#4
Key Document 2 Document on the History and emergence of postmodern ideas. Notes on Steven Connor’s outline of the development of postmodern ideas. Some notes on the differences between modernism and postmodernism. Possible Essay Question: What is the difference between postmodern media and traditional media. - postmodern texts tend to dispense with traditional narrative forms. They challenge the convention of beginning-middle-end. - postmodern texts tend to avoid conventional limitations of time/space - self-reflexiveness….postmodern texts draw attention to their own making and to their fictional nature. Conventional media texts disguise their own making and encourage audiences to suspend their disbelief - intertextuality/bricolage make postmodern texts much less self-contained, ie they refer to and borrow from other texts. Traditional media is much more self-contained. - Traditonal media texts are ultimately about conveying meaning, whereas postmodern texts deny the possibility of meaning or truth.

#5
Postmodernism and the difference between Art and Garbage http://www.vice.com/read/postmodernism-and-the-difference-between-art-and-garbage-at-torontos-nuit-blanche This article takes us to Toronto's Nuit Blanche Festival and here, the author's are identifying different pieces of artwork that they saw during there stay. There are explaining that the various pieces would appear, in an everyday light, to be 'garbage'. However everything is displayed as 'art' at the festival and in a very postmodern way. Essentially, this post is trying to differentiate art from what is literally, nothing more that garbage.


#6
 I found a blog for students studying A2 media studies from another school, found it quite useful, because there are lots of definitions of postmodernism, and useful links and case studies

http://tccpomo.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/eternal-sunshine-of-spotless-mind.html

#7
Postmodernism is a general and wide-ranging term which is applied to many disciplines, including literature, art, economics, philosophy, architecture, fiction, and literary criticism. Postmodernism is largely a reaction to scientific or objective efforts to explain reality. There is no consensus among scholars on the precise definition. In essence, postmodernism is based on the position that reality is not mirrored in human understanding of it, but is rather constructed as the mind tries to understand its own personal reality. Postmodernism is therefore skeptical of explanations that claim to be valid for all groups, cultures, traditions, or races, and instead focuses on the relative truths of each person. In the postmodern understanding, interpretation is everything; reality only comes into being through our interpretations of what the world means to us individually. Postmodernism relies on concrete experience over abstract principles, arguing that the outcome of one's own experience will necessarily be fallible and relative, rather than certain or universal.
Postmodernism postulates that many, if not all, apparent realities are only social constructs and are therefore subject to change. It claims that there is no absolute truth and that the way people perceive the world is subjective and emphasises the role of language, power relations, and motivations in the formation of ideas and beliefs. In particular it attacks the use of sharp binary classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial; it holds realities to be plural and relative, and to be dependent on who the interested parties are and the nature of these interests. Postmodernist approaches therefore often consider the ways in which social dynamics, such as power and hierarchy, affect human conceptualizations of the world to have important effects on the way knowledge is constructed and used. Postmodernist thought often emphasizes constructivism, idealism, pluralism, relativism, and scepticism in its approaches to knowledge and understanding.
Postmodernism is generally considered to have been conceived during the early twentieth century. Postmodernism gained significant popularity in the 1950s and dominated literature and art by the 1960s.^[1] Postmodernism has influenced many disciplines, including religion, literary criticism, sociology, ethics and morality, linguistics, architecture, history, politics, international relations, anthropology, visual arts, and music.

 

#8

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9owo

Video about what postmodernism is

What is post-modernism? How has it affected our culture? How will it impact our future? What is the role of the Christian church in a post-modern world? Does man truly need God or is God merely a fairytale idea left-over from a past cultural experiment? These questions are the launching point for "Rebellion of Thought".

#9

Postmodernity in Run Lola run

•The first 20 minute installment plays out very much like a video game. The character Lola derives her look from famous Japanese culture of anime eg. Red hair. The character also draws direct reference to the avatar from Tomb Raider. The video game feel is represented by the narrative as everything occurs in 20 minute instalments where characters die and effectively ‘lose a life’ but gain knowledge of how to overcome the challenge much like a person does in a video game. Due to the intertextual references to Lara Croft and anime it is arguably post-modern and don’t forget it!

 •The film often alludes to Alfred Hitchcock’s film Vertigo with the constant theme of spirals. such as the 'Spirale' Cafe behind Manni's phone box and the spiral staircase down which Lola runs. In addition, the painting on the back wall of the casino of a woman's head seen from behind is based on a shot in Vertigo: Tykwer disliked the empty space on the wall behind the roulette table and commissioned production designer Alexander Manasse to paint a picture of Kim Novak as she appeared in Vertigo.

#10

 Postmodernity in the scream series

lScream would have to be the singlemost influential horror film of the 1990s. It inspired a whole host of (mostly inferior) copycat teen horror films and created a new fad for the postmodern slasher film, where characters are constantly ironically referencing their actions in respect to other films.

youtube link talking about postmodernity in scream-  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oL8MhYq9ow

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