Postmodernism & Deutschland 83

 

Postmodernism

1) What examples are provided of the breakdown of the distinction between culture and society (media-isation)?

Since society's perceptions towards men and women are identical, you can't simply offer the viewer a role model to emulate if they can't connect to it. Contestants on The X Factor perform cover interpretations of cover versions of songs. In a Queen-themed night, John and Edward sang ‘We Will Rock You,' but they did so in the ‘Five version.'

2) What is Fredric Jameson's idea of 'historical deafness'? 

History has been simplified and historical awareness is often dependent on television representations. According to Jameson, as mediaisation grows, society loses its sense of historical meaning.

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

Reality television series, such as Big Brother, are seen as an example because they can be said to have a tradition of promoting style over content, as many actors are now renowned for becoming famous rather than for a recognisable talent. When it comes to purchasing goods, people are heavily affected by branding.

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?

Pop music often samples classical music; for example, during the supermarket scene,'sweet dreams' by Eurythmics, a well-known pop song, is played in the shop against the cautiously built pop art style supermarket.

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

Bricolage refers to the concept of combining sources. It refers to the method of combining and juxtaposing old and new concepts or narratives in order to create entirely new meanings.

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.

Audiences find the show's parody to be almost tribute to the 1980s, giving the viewer the joy of nostalgia as certain viewers can recall this period themselves, as well as the show's surveillance feature, which uses archive clips and comparisons to current events to remind audiences, which ties to hyperreality as the boundaries between fantasy and reality are too quickly blurred in this show.

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.

D83 takes a postmodernist approach to genre since it is a fusion of various styles and the listener does not always expect the codes and conventions. For example, the show combines elements of a spy thriller, a coming-of-age story, a historical and political drama, and romance. The hyper-reality and exaggeration of the west being wealthy and affluent while the east is poor and marginalised, but the reality is that they all have fundamental issues, such as psychological inequality among Germans.During the preparation montage, the split screen shows the variations between the east and west brands, as well as unique camera angles.

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

The show is a period drama with largely historically accurate details, props, and setting, but with fictitious characters added into the story. The show usually uses factual facts as a stimulus to determine how characters respond to it in order to advance the storyline, rather than focusing entirely on true events.

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

We may recognise Jameson's hypothesis of 'historical deafness' in the supermarket scene, which suggests that the mediaisation of history assumes we only perceive historical events by their portrayal. The music and clothes from the 1980s are visible, and it educates us on a time frame that many of us did not see.

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

The opening scene of D83 is a prime example of bricolage, when archive footage is mixed with fresh footage for the film. The actual Ronald Reagan speech from 1983 is shown to educate us about the past and to explain why the East Germans were so outraged and wary of NATO, which ultimately brought all blocs to the brink of WWIII. Since it makes references, this scene is an example of pastiche.