postmodernism prep

Postmodernism:

  • 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 / copies other things)
  • RE-IMAGINING= To recreate or form a new conception of by recreation
  • PASTICHE= A work of art, drama, or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist.
  • PARODY= A work or performance that imitates another work or performance with the use of irony and humour.
  • COPY
  • BRICOLAGE= construction of media with a diverse range of available things ‘involves the rearrangment and juxtaposition of previously unconnected signs to produce new codes of meaning’(Barker & Jane, 2016:237)

Narrative theory:

  • Structure: beginning, middle, end- equillibrium -> disruption of equillibrium -> equilibrium restored. (freytags pyramid)
  • Propp; characters and their roles, the theory that all characters are reimagined from a set of character templates ~(hero, villian, helper, princess, false hero, father)
  • Turner makes clear that the roles aren’t specific to a singular character as one character can fit into more than one of these templates; and it is determined by their functions and SPHERES OF ACTION
  • Chatman splits narrative and plot into two main structures; satalights and kernels, kernals being something absoluetly essential to the plot to make sense or for the audience to know. Satalights being something not essential to the plot that can be taken out- yet are important for subtle progression such as character development/ non-essential background context
  • Barthes talks about the different type of codes through the narrative. Proairetic code: action, movement, causation Hermenuetic code: reflection, dialogue, character or thematic development Enigma code: the way in which intrigue and ideas are raised – which encourage an audience to want more information. We can relate chatmans Satalight ideaology to hermenuetic code as development.

Linking narrative theory to the presentation of postmodernism

  • You can see that the reiteration of historical events through modern media through concepts such as through parodys or pastiche have a strong link to techniques and ideas surrounding narrative structure and theory
  • For example, the main goal for both these media forms would be to present a previous event and to educate the audience while keeping it less complicated and entertaining to provide a message that can be more widely taken on and accepted.
  • Freytags pyramid- in reference of a historical event being presented via postmodernism, something catastrophically with many levels of details could be simplified to conform to the needs of a wider audience- a hisorical event such as World War One has many levels of depth and things that lead up to it, but a pastiche or

Narrative:

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