Postmodern signifiers

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• To demonstrate the ability to identify key Postmodern media signifiers.

• To apply understanding within a practical media product

What makes something Postmodern?

IN PAIRS WRITE DOWN WHAT YOU FEEL ARE THE

KEY SIGNIFIERS (CHARACTERISTICS) OF A

POSTMODERN MEDIA TEXT

Hybridisation (Bricolage)

• Put simply this is when a text mixes the elements of two or more genres together

• Example: “Shaun of the Dead”

• Suggests that you cannot create anything new anymore?

Dystopian Narratives

• Narratives become dystopian or negative, downbeat. Often the "bad" guys win or everyone dies. Often these texts suggest a lack of hope in the future

Intertextuality• This is when a text

makes deliberate references to other media texts by stealing bits of it

• Example: “The Simpsons”

• Possibly suggests that we constantly repeat rather than create new things?

Self Reflexivity• This is when a

“text” points out to the audience that it is a “text”. This level of self awareness points to how “texts” are constructed

I feel like I’ve been wearing the same clothes for

10 Years!

Juxtaposition• This is when a collection of opposing

elements all mix together to try and make sense.

• Example: “The Mighty Boosh”

This can often reflect a confusing world where things don’t make any sense

Non Linear Narratives

• Breaking up the rules of narrative, staring at the end, jumping around in time or even making a film run backwards to create something new.

Nostalgia

• There is no future so why not recycle the past? Using remakes and a glossy positive memory of the past to create distracting entertainment for contemporary times.

Hyperreality

• Because of all the self- reflexivity, intertextuality etc, texts become detached from anything real. This creates a hyperreal state where reality is altered and detached from anything “real”

• Example: “The Matrix”