Postmodernism can be understood as a philosophy that is characterised by concepts such as RE-IMAGINING, PASTICHE, PARODY, COPY, BRICOLAGE. It’s an approach towards understanding, knowledge, life, being, art, technology, culture, sociology, philosophy, politics and history that is REFERENTIAL – in that it often refers to and often copies other things in order to understand itself.

Parody v Pastiche 

pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist

this is your standard thriller/detective

parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony

surface signs, gestures & play

A good place to look for illustrations of postmodern culture, in terms of media studies, is the music video. As Shuker notes, two points are frequently made about music videos: ‘their preoccupation with visual style, and associated with this, their status as key exemplars of ‘postmodern’ texts.’ (2001:167). Shuker refers Fredric Jameson’s (1984) notion of the ‘metanarrative’ (discussed in more detail below) that ’embody the postmodern condition’ (168). For example, the fragmentary, decentred nature of music videos that break up traditional understandings of time and space so that audiences are ‘no longer able to distinguish ‘fiction’ from ‘reality’, part of the postmodern condition’ (ibid). Alongside their similarity to adverts (essentially the music video is a commercial tool to sell music products) ‘making them part of a blatantly consumerist culture‘ (ibid). And of course, the ‘considerable evidence of pastiche, intertextuality and eclecticism‘ (ibid) which is the focus of this next section.

because there’s so much surface there is worry for the overall meta narrative

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is a way of thinking about culture, philosophy, art and many other things. The term has been used in many different ways at different times, but there are some things in common. Postmodernism says that there is no real truth people can know.

Postmodernism can be seen as a philosophy that is characterised by concepts such as RE-IMAGINING, PASTICHE, PARODY, COPY, BRICOLAGE. or as the dictionary describes it as a late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterized by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.

postmodernism its fragmentry,dentred nature of music video

postmodernism say that we cant tell the difference between fiction and relaity

we live in this part of a blatantly consumerist culture

bricolage relates to the film as its involves the rearrangement of sign

Postmodernism typically criticizes long-held beliefs regarding objective reality, value systems, human nature, and social progress, among other things. For example, Pulp Fiction is a postmodern film for the way it tells the story out of the ordinary, upending our beliefs of how a film should be structured.

Surface and style over substance

 if the main focus is the idea of just connecting one product to another, then the focus is superficial, shallow, lacking depth, so ‘in a postmodern world, surfaces and style become the most important defining features of the mass media and popular culture‘ (Strinati: 234)

I personally believe that the idea of narrative when analysing music videos are useful as firstly we must consider the narrative, what fundamentally is the story/ structure of something, and what meaning or thing is it try to portray/ narrate. when we are trying to understand/ explain narrative we should look at a range of theories and in this case when looking at “letter to the free” and “ghost town” we should consider 4 main theorists: Tztevan Todorov and his 3-part structure theory where he says there’s a beginning, middle, end to a narrative as-well as the three parts to which also applies, the equilibrium where everything is balanced and no conflict has yet to arise but may have some foreshadowing, Then the narrative shifts into disequilibrium/Disruption as conflict/ an issue that is introduced what tends to be the majority focus the film where it gets more thrilling as they attempt to resolve whatever conflict has arisen then finally finishes into resolution/new equilibrium where the story gets balanced again after the issue or change has been resolved or even accepted. Claude Levi-Strauss on binary oppositions states that we do not know what truth or meaning is but we know what it isn’t for example we know Black isn’t White, Good isn’t Bad etc. Vladimir Propp’s theory on character Types and Functions where he believes a character type is a certain trait or role a character will have to progress the story, for example, the Hero(protagonist), Villain (antagonist), princess(the character who gets rescued in one way or form) etc. Chatman theory resolves on Satellites and kernels where main elements of the stories that if changed, affected the story greatly are referred to kernels, for example, the film is a sci-fi planet, whereas satellites are changeable elements of the stories that won’t affect the story too much Eg. he has a blue hat in part 1 but in part 2 changes to a black hat.

Using this knowledge as we look at “Letter to the Free” by Common lyrics and signs relates to historical and current oppression of African Americans as he talks bout how jail is modern slavery as it is a form of business where they have people to do cheap labour for them to which they sell and that why there must always be people in jail.Commons Music video starts off in the inside a prison and is presented throughout the video which is a direct representation to who he is singing, the black community as prisoners,  In the music video Commons, there is a black box that also is shown throughout the video to which “represents the infinite thing about blackness and blackness can’t be defined in time or space” and what common means by “defined” he is referring to the labelling of black people. When considering Commons video in a narrative theoretical sense it doesn’t have a clear narrative and doesn’t follow so trying to apply one of the theories Tztevan Todorov and his 3-part structure theory is hard, however, when we consider Tztevan Todorov and his 3-part structure theory to the video in the sense of the beginning when common is in the prison alone is short equilibrium but when were shown the flashes of the black box we can argue for this to be the disequilibrium to the point of the end where the black box is sort of “resting” in the filed at the end of the video and is the new equilibrium.

When we look at Ghost town written by Jerry Dammers by the Artists British two-tone band “The specials” which was released in 1981. It has a more clear narrative at the beginning of the music video where the shots are quite still and are of the car and the surroundings which is the equilibrium but then it transitions to the disequilibrium as the shot of the car gets shakier as the car swerves around but then once again returns back to normal to which is then transitions to the new equilibrium so this relates to Tztevan Todorov and his 3-part structure theory again. When looking at the video there could be the symbolism of was happening at the time of the 1980s in the UK where CND was starting to happen what is the Campaign for the disarmament of nuclear weapons so at the beginning of the video could be the symbolism of how people have hidden away due to fear of nuclear weapons and in the middle when they are swerving is the fear getting to them but at the end, when they are skipping rocks, is the sort of acceptance that something bad could happen.

Once again looking at “Ghost town” I feel that we should look at the narrative theory of satellites and kernels by Seymour Chatman, kernels are the main elements of the narrative that if changed would affect the story greatly where as satellites are changeable elements of the stories what if changed wont affect the story much to the point where we will no longer be able to understand the story

Overall I believe that ideas about narrative in analysing music videos are useful as with the correct theories we get a greater understanding for the narrative and what it is trying to portray that at first glance you might not commonly notice and we can achieve this though the help of the narrative theorists of Tztevan Todorov, Chapman, Vladimir Propp and Claude Levi-Strauss.

• Theory about the present, linked to communications ect.
• Referential – it refers to others things & sometimes its self [“The pleasure is finding out what is going to happen next”]
• film is fragmentary but connected, pm says the world is like this
• characterized by parody (imitates something else) & pastiche (a work of art ect)
• pm says there is nothing new, we are just representing something that already exists in a different way (film is a detective story but we have not seen it presented in this way)
• meta narrative – the big story/picture, film refers to lack of this (Natalie says notes are unreliable. It is about facts, what happens if we don’t know anything? In reality we don’t know fact from fiction.)
• fragmented identity construction – multiple identity, whats real whats authentic? (Natalie)
• key characteristic = development of fragmented alienated individuals living precariously in fragmented societies
• post modern culture is linked to consumer culture (winner in the film is a large incorporation, people are expendable)

• narrative theory looks at recognizable and familiar structures
• narratives are a combination of many individual elements which are edited (connected) together.
• theme, space, time
• most narratives are linear & sequential & beginning, middle and end

• levi strauss – binary oppositions (themes eg truth)
• stories have a meta purpose
• provide moral codes
• reactionary and radical
• character types – stock

STORY = themes and meaning that can be decoded from all of the different elements that are used (the characters, setting, props and themes)

PLOT = way in which the story (elements/themes/ideas/meaning) is organised and sequenced. 

Tztevan Todorov = turned begging middle & end into equilibrium, disruption & new equilibrium

flashback flashforward

Half of the film is color & half is black & white = parallel narrative, inter cut

an enigma code (enigma = puzzle) memento – the book he burns. Film is almost talking about its self

light & shade – abstract terms, light = little jokes, dark = plot, release tension

elision & ellipsis = elements that are missing, leaving things out

• An approach to understanding, a philosophy, a way of seeing the world
• Music videos are ‘post modern’
• fragmentary set of inter-relationships
• not very secure,complicated
• about copying and re-imagining
• links to intersectionality
• pastiche is a work of art, drama, literature, music, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist
• parody is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony
• intertextuality – one text is referencing another
• so there is a focus on surface signs
• a sense of play, about gestures
• “[music videos] their preoccupation with visual style…” – Shuker
• The fragmentary, decentred nature of music videos break up traditional understanding
• Audiences are “no longer able to distinguish ‘fiction’ from ‘reality’ part of the postmodern condition” (ibid)
• Essentially the music video is a commercial tool to sell music products “making them part of a blatantly consumerist culture” (ibid)
• There is a link with fragment identity and the drive to make people buy more things
• Bricolage is a term that applies to postmodernist texts as it “involves the rearrangement and juxtaposition of previously unconnected signs to produce new codes of meaning” – Barker & Jane
• If it the priority is play, then emphasis is on the surface, therefore style over substance
• “In a postmodern world, surfaces and style become the most important defining features” – Strinati
• Richard Hoggart  – a shift in technological culture, the impact on our ‘neighborhood lives’, everything was local
• However, during the twentieth century the population went from 2 to 6 billion people, who are are characterised by consumption more than production
• Fragmentary consumption = Fragmentary identities
• Postmodern culture is consumer culture
• The development of fragmented, alienated individuals living precariously in fragmented societies
• The loss of metanarrative (meta= big/overall)
• From a societal perspective the ‘real’ seems to be imploding in on itself, a “process leading to the collapse of boundaries between the real and simulations” – Barker & Emma
• Jean Baudrillard would describe as ‘implosion’ which gives rise to what he terms ‘simulacra’
• A simulation has become more than a representation or simulation and it has become simulacrum not just a representation of the real, but the real itself – hyperreality

1. Pastiche = something that imitates the work of a previous artist
2. Parody = is a work or performance that imitates another work or performance with ridicule or irony
3. Bricolage = construction or creation from a diverse range of available things
4. Intertextuality = the relationship between texts, especially literary ones
5. Metanarrative = the relationship between texts, especially literary ones
6. Hyperreality = is an inability of consciousness to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality
7. Simulacrum = an image or representation of someone or something
8. Consumerist Society = one in which people devote a great deal of time, energy, resources and thought to “consuming”
9. Fragmentary Identities
10. Implosion
11. cultural appropriation
12. Reflexivity

Letter to The Free is a music video that was created by the artist Common for the Netflix Documentary 13th, a documentary on Black Incarceration within the United States. The music video addresses themes of racial violence and slavery. Ghost town is a song by The Specials, released during the Margaret Thatcher era. It addresses themes such as urban decay, deindustrialisation and violence within inner cities. This violence was spurred by racism and led to racist attacks.

narrative theory is useful in varying areas for music videos. For example, you can apply Claude Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary oppositions in Common’s Letter to The Free. During the music video, themes of “black and white” are shown, with the whole music video being shot in greyscale. This is used to highlight racial opposites, as black cannot be white and vice versa. This is shown further when common refers to an “us” and a “them”, creating a divide between the characters within the narrative helping to visualise the gap in power between the two groups. Ghost Town also uses binary oppositions, with scenes of flashbacks remembering the “good times”. This is used to emphasise the bleakness of the situation the characters are in and the severity of the situation.

Furthermore, narrative theory is useful at assessing how culture is perceived. For example, Jacques Lecan’s theory of ‘the other’ discusses how the dominant ideological character is represented next to an ‘other’. For example, a straight white man seen as a ‘hero’ while the ‘other’ – e.g. black minority groups are usually represented as ‘crooked’ or ‘deranged’ – the villain of the story. This is discussed in Common’s Letter to the Free when Common states “pride of the pilgrims affect lives of millions”. In US history, pilgrims are seen as ‘noble’ and ‘brave’ for trying to spread ‘the greater good’, while in reality, pilgrims slaughtered and raped millions of people of colour during pilgrimages. This is an example of how, through history, a narrative of ‘us’ vs ‘them’ has been constructed to justify racial violence and slavery. Furthermore, this has disallowed people of colour healthy representation, causing a lack of proper identity formation within the black consciousness.

Furthermore, Louis Althusser’s theory of interpolation can be used to discuss systematic racism. In Letter to the Free, Common states:”Institution ain’t just a building
But a method, of having black and brown bodies fill them
We ain’t seen as human beings with feelings”. Common discusses the 13th Amendment, that slavery is illegal unless the slave in question is a criminal. Furthermore, with the unjust proportion of black people being incarcerated, Common is explaining how enslavement of people of colour is still prevalent today. This can be linked to Althusser’s theory of interpolation as the 13th Amendment was implemented by the ruling class, making it a ruling ideology that black people are seen as ‘criminals’, enforcing the working class belief that black people should be imprisoned. This can be seen in the Reagan era, where Ronald Reagan began a ‘war on drugs’, a policy designed to weed out and unjustly imprison people of colour while normalising this with the working class under a policy enforcing the belief that people of colour are ‘criminals’ and are right to be imprisoned without reason.

In conclusion, narrative theory is useful at explaining the ideology of music videos. Furthermore, narrative theory can also be used to investigate societal discrimination and systematic racism through the analysis of different forms of media including music videos.

Narrative

Theme space and time

Story-

Themes- Death (the murder of john G), forgetfulness (short term memory condition), confusion, Betrayal (murder and rape of the main characters wife), truth(facts)

Meaning-

Todorov- Tri part narrative

Story begins with a climax acting as a hook to interest the audience then reverts back to an equilibrium

Structure is not linear which disagrees with Freytag’s analysis of structure (5 part structure) as well as todorov’s (3 part structure)

The present is shown in black and white and the past is in colour

the unconventional oder of the scenes mirrors the confusion within the main character

Radical

Propp’s character theory

1. Hero- Leonard
2. Helper- Natalie
3. Princess- Leonards wife
4. Villain- John/ Teddy
5. Victim- Leonards wife, Leonard (victim of his condition)
6. Dispatcher
7. Father
8. False Hero

Stock characters, operate in ‘spheres of action’

Levi-Strausse binary oppositions

Oppositions in momento- Leonard vs everyone without his condition, Past vs present, good (leonard) vs bad (teddy)

Seymour Chatman- satellites (embellishments) and kernels (key moments)

kernels- Teddy’s murder, Leonard’s wife’s murder, jimmy’s murder,

Satellites- Burning his wife’s things, drinking spit beer,

Ronald Barthes- proairetic and hermeneutic codes

Moral code of the film:

Flashback

parallel narratives

light and shade

Ellipsis

Elision

Post modernism

‘The pleasure is finding out what is going to happen next’- self referenial film

‘can’t remember to forget you’

complicated, fragmentary but connected

Pastiche- detective story

Fragmented identity construction- These days we have more than one identity based on which homogeneous groups we are with at the time

This is seen in Momento as Leonard give people the chance to be someone completely different as he doesn’t remember who they were before. So, throughout the movie as we see more and more sequences and learn who each character really is. All characters in Momento are alienated individuals as they’re ever settled in one place with the same people.

Post modern culture- consumerism

We see consumerism in Momento with Sammy Jenkins as he doesn’t receive human connection or the benefit with the doubt. The insurance company ‘win’ and refuse to give him money

Elision and Elipsis – leaving things out so that the audience can combine the puzzles

Fragmented identity construction – are able to build multiple different identities for example you can be a different person at work,school or with your friends

A key characteristic of postmodernism is the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living in fragmented societies