- Postmodernism can be understood as a philosophy that is characterised by concepts such as RE-IMAGINING, PASTICHE, PARODY, COPY, BRICOLAGE
- PM allows us to think about what life is like now (Theory about now) Linked to media, digitalisation
- Referential – Refers to and often copies other things in order to understand itself
- Memento is referential
- Memento is complicated but connected together, its fragmentary
- Fragmentary consumption = Fragmentary identities
- Different representations/identities depending on where we are, we weren’t able to present different identities in the past
- A key characteristic of post-modernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living (precariously) in fragmented societies
- Leonard has no real idea on who he is
- Detective story which is predictable and represented in a different way
- New iteration/version of previous expression, nothing new in world but we are just repeating old things in a different way
- Visual ‘treat’ looks good but may not have a meta narrative
- Meta narrative is the big story
- Memento refers to the lack of meta narrative, the film is post modern
- Memento questions memories and what happens if we don’t actually know anything and don’t know what’s true or false
- Post-modern culture is linked to buying things, big companies are prioritised over individuals
How could Memento be classed as a postmodern text?
Look at intertextuality (sampling artistic styles, plot character/conventions from other forms/genres), ‘writerly text’ (Roland Barthes, a text who’s meaning is created through the reader/consumer rather than the producers, no cohesive identity no ‘real you’), no truth in history, fiction/fact depend on each other to a point where they can’t be divided, too many contradictory elements so knowledge may not be the truth