Where to Look

Where will we find these characteristics of PostModernism?

Television
Especially MTV
Music Videos, or lack of...
Cartoons
Commercials
Sitcoms

Music
Music Videos

Movies
TV movies
Series Movies

Products
Toys
Technology
Food
Types of Services

Advertising
Commercials
Billboards
Pre-Movie Ads
Magazine ads

Print
Books
Newspapers
Comics

Think of anything else? Tell me!!

Sarah

What to Look For

Looking for PostModernism in Popular Culture can be a daunting task, especially with the many facets of pop culture and a widely misunderstood meaning of PoMo.

First we have to define what we are looking for. What are the characteristics of pomo in popcul?
I did a Google search on it, and this is what I found:

Suspicion of Metanarratives-

Wiki def, again:

The meaning of metanarrative:

A metanarrative can include any grand, all-encompassing story, classic text, or archetypal account of the historical record. They can also provide a framework upon which an individual's own experiences and thoughts may be ordered. These grand, all-encompassing stories are typically characterised by some form of 'transcendent and universal truth' in addition to an evolutionary tale of human existence (a story with a beginning, middle and an end).

A suspicion of these grand explanations of the world is a leading characteristic of PoMo. In popular culture, any scene that is set that doesn't reinforce these metanarratives, or specifically in opposition to them.

Suspicion of "Truth"- There is no truth, only our perception of the truth, which changes from person to person. Because there is no perfect objective view, all perceptions of the truth must be questioned.

Language as thought- Have you ever heard someone say something so eloquently that you felt that no other combination of words could express that thought as well. That is language defining ideas.

Anti-Dualistic- there is no good and no evil, just stuff

Lack of Reason or Rationality- pshaww... rationality was soooo modern... Reason is used to support metanarratives, lack of it destroys those, but opens up options that reason excluded (ever watched Family Guy?)

Chaos- product of lack of reason, but oh so pretty and cool.

Fragmentation and Pluralism- the result of not having dualisms, instead of two, there are many.

From the Encyclopedia of Education Technology:

"The following few words and phrases--that are not necessarily definitions--may help to give the flavor of the postmodern condition:

Perceptual montage

Eclectic

Difference over Uniformity

Multiple interpretations
Multiple responses
Multiple discourses
Multiple options

Conversations that are:
open and honest,
have many answers,
and are never finished"

Musical Traits

Ahh, that reminds me. The most important factor that I will be looking for in my examination of postmodern artifacts is the shift from the modern mode of production focused on "author's intent" to one of "reader's perception." The best example I can come up with for this is advertising. There has been a shift in advertising from the modern "Let's have an ad that showcases how very fine our product is, and the people who see it will recognize that ours is the best" to "Let's find out what 18-25 year old females are looking for in this product, and base our ads off of that."

If these are confusing, just wait, as I go into individual artifacts, I will go over the ones that apply much more in depth.

Meme Theory

I found this fantastic blog post on Memetic Theory and Pop Culture.

Memetics

Wiki Entry

Wiktionary Definition:

meme (plural memes)

1. Any unit of cultural information, such as a practice or idea, that is transmitted verbally or by repeated action from one mind to another. Examples might include thoughts, ideas, theories, practices, habits, songs, dances and moods and terms such as race, culture, ethnicity etc.
2. A self-propagating unit of cultural evolution having a resemblance to the gene (the unit of genetics).

Popular Culture is the most successful memes, joined together. Preexisting memes affect how we judge new memes, like our conception of race and how it might affect what music we listen to, or our concept of gender and how that effects what clothes we like to wear.

On this page, I don't want to talk about Meme Theory in depth, I am going to concentrate on the content and context of specific memes as they have changed and evolved. But is is important to understand that each individual is a product of two main factors: their genes and their memes. This reminds me of the nature vs. nurture debate, as in what defines our personal identity more: our genetic makeup or the unique combination of experiences that we percieve.

I like to think of personal identity as a club (mostly because I love to dance). Stick with me here, this sounds a little crazy, but I like the metaphore. Our genes are the club itself, the foundation and structure, the owner who calls all the shots and gets to boss around the rest of the employees, the bartenders who keep the customers satiated, the bouncer who gets to decide who is in and who is not. Our memes are the customers themselves. A popular club will be swarmed with customers of all types, but it is the bouncer that regulates who gets in. Sometimes customers sneak in the back, not officially chosen for the makeup of the club, but there nonetheless. Some will get along really well, in fact, that's the goal of the bouncer. Some will not get along well, and conflict arises.

As individuals, we are the owners of our own clubs, our bodies. We can decorate as we see fit, act how we want, and regulate our input based upon what we know about ourselves. Take for instance a romance novel lover who sees a new book by her favorite author. Metaphorically, that author has just arrived out front in a limo and cut in front of the rest of the line.

Say that same individual was given a Thomas L. Friedman book for her birthday, and she has absoutely no interest in economics whatsoever. Now he is standing in line, deemed too geeky by the bouncer to be let in (though he's welcome in my club any day!). On a slow night (lack of many other memes, i.e. boredom) he might get let in. If the owner likes him, he might get let in again, but if he leaves a bad impression, he'll be put on the boot list.

This metaphore doesn't only extend to dance clubs, but a club of any kind. Like high school science club. A certian level of intelligence is needed to get in, and stupid people are likely to be rejected (unless they're hot, geeks don't get much action). Like a geek who only reads books on physics but watches Britany Spears music videos on a regular basis.

Yacht Clubs/ Country Clubs regulate input based on income level, you have to have so much money to join. Like a conservative asshole who doesn't take anyone's opinions into account unless they have money to spend at his company.

We are each our own club, our own genre, our own makeup of genes and memes that make us each unique. A club isn't a club unless it has the structure and the participants.

I want to look at different types of memes, and how they've changed, or the evolution of the customer at the club, and how that changes the club as a whole.

Tune in soon for some cartoony analysis.

Sarah

Introduction

Hello!

My name is Sarah, and I created this blog so I could combine my two great loves: PostModernism and Popular Culture. Many argue that we are currently living at the dawn of the Post Modern Age, but there are those who disagree, and believe that we are still living in Modern times. It is my goal to illustrate that we are in Post Modernity by juxtaposing modern and pomo forms of popular culture, like music, art, television, movies, and advertisements (while at the same time translating post modern ideas into a language most people can understand). The disjointed, non-linear, at times completely random form that these cultural artifacts take is not only proof that we are living in PoMo times, but that PoMo is being widely accepted, especially by the younger generations where it really counts. The effects of this will be widely seen in about 50 years or so, but it is my hope to show what direction this might take. Keep checking back, and enjoy!

Sarah