Postmodernism #2 - In The Media

 

                   

                   

                   

 

                    

JEAN BAUDRILLARD 

In Simulacra and Simulation, introduced the concept that reality or the principle of the "real" is short-circuited by the interchangeability ( the quality of being capable of exchange or interchange) of signs in an era whose communicative (Relating to the conveyance or exchange of information) and semantic acts (Relating to meaning in language or logic) are dominated by electronic media and digital technologies. 

Baudrillard proposes the notion that, in such a state, where subjects are detached from the outcomes of events ( but still aware of them - political, literary, artistic, personal, or otherwise), events no longer hold any particular sway on the subject nor have any identifiable context; they therefore have the effect of producing widespread indifference, detachment, and passivity in industrialised populations (effected by but unable to change or alter). He claimed that a constant stream of appearances and references without any direct consequences to viewers or readers could eventually render the division between appearance and object indiscernible (impossible to distinguish), resulting, ironically, in the "disappearance" of mankind in what is, in effect, a virtual or holographic state, composed only of appearances (with no substance).

Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra and Simulation is famous for its discussion of symbols & signs, and how they relate to contemporaneity (modern day life). Baudrillard claims that our current society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that human experience is of a simulation of reality 

(imitating the behaviour of a situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous - comparable / similar in certain respects, Similar or alike in such a way as to permit the drawing of an analogy- comparison. - imitation of reality in a hyperbolised state)  Moreover, these simulacra are not merely mediations of reality, nor even deceptive mediations of reality; they are not based in a reality nor do they hide a reality, they simply hide that anything like reality is irrelevant to our current understanding of our lives. The simulacra that Baudrillard refers to are the significations and symbolism of culture and media that construct perceived reality, the acquired understanding by which our lives and shared existence is and are rendered legible; Baudrillard believed that society has become so saturated with these simulacra and our lives so saturated with the constructs of society that all meaning was being rendered meaningless by being infinitely mutable. Baudrillard called this phenomenon the "precession of simulacra". The first stage is a faithful image/copy, where we believe, and it may even be correct, that a sign is a "reflection of a profound reality" , this is a good appearance, in what Baudrillard called "the sacramental order". (we believe what we see is real or a reflection of what is real) The second stage is perversion of reality, (alteration of something from its original cause state or meaning) this is where we come to believe the sign to be an unfaithful copy, which "masks and denatures" (alters the natural qualities of) reality as an "evil appearance—it is of the order of maleficence" (doing wrong or causing evil). Here, signs and images do not faithfully reveal reality to us, but can hint at the existence of an obscure reality which the sign itself is incapable of encapsulating (enclosing or expressing) (EG: body image in the media using editing software or ads with fake outcomes?). The third stage masks the absence of a profound reality, where the simulacrum pretends to be a faithful copy, but it is a copy with no original. Signs and images claim to represent something real, but no representation is taking place and arbitrary images are merely suggested as things which they have no relationship to. Baudrillard calls this the "order of sorcery", a regime of semantic algebra where all human meaning is conjured artificially to appear as a reference to the (increasingly) hermetic truth (Insulated or protected from outside influences).  The fourth stage is pure simulation, in which the simulacrum has no relationship to any reality whatsoever. Here, signs merely reflect other signs and any claim to reality on the part of images or signs is only of the order of other such claims. This is a regime of total equivalency, where cultural products need no longer even pretend to be real in a naïve sense, because the experiences of consumers' lives are so predominantly artificial that even claims to reality are expected to be phrased in artificial, "hyperreal" terms. Any naive pretension to reality as such is perceived as bereft of critical self-awareness, and thus as oversentimental. First order, associated with the premodern period, where representation is clearly an artificial placemarker for the real item. The uniqueness of objects and situations marks them as irreproducibly real and signification obviously gropes towards this reality. Second order, associated with the modernity of the Industrial Revolution, where distinctions between representation and reality break down due to the proliferation of mass-reproducible copies of items, turning them into commodities. The commodity's ability to imitate reality threatens to replace the original version (eg cgi films), especially when the individual person is only concerned with consuming for some utility a functional facsimile.(exact copy) Third order, associated with the postmodernity of Late Capitalism, where the simulacrum precedes the original and the distinction between reality and representation vanishes. There is only the simulacrum, and originality becomes a totally meaningless concept (copy of a copy)

Postmodernism

Postmodern texts consciously play with meaning and are designed to be read by literate, widely read audiences who will pick up on their repetitive use of intertextuality. Many texts openly acknowledge that, given the diversity in today's audiences, that some may not understand concepts, though they can still receive pleasure from viewing them and thus the texts can present a whole range of oppositional readings simultaneously. Many of the visual puns used by advertising are viewed as postmodern works; as postmodern texts often employ a range of referential techniques such as bricolage (Construction or creation from a diverse range of available things), and will use images and ideas in a contrasting way to  their primary functions (eg using footage of Nazi war crimes in a pop video). Postmodernism is often viewed of as a buzz word and is often misinterpreted or used. Many media texts are deliberately constructed as postmodern. 

Postmodern theory challenges the modernist’s beliefs of “master narratives” associated with “progress,” “truth,” “human improvement,” “high art,” “science,” “technology” — the assumption that these “narratives” will lead humans to a greater sense of happiness and fulfillment. Postmodern perspectives are apparent in many works of contemporary art, film, architecture, fiction, and music. They aim to challenge and even use parodies or mimics of traditional forms but for no politically slandering impact or progressive cause. 

Jean Baudrillard (a leading theorist of Postmoderism) explains that we are living in a word of “hyperreality” (mode of existence in which reality and simulation are experienced as being without difference.) constructed largely of surface media images that challenge and undermine modernist notions of reality and truth. 
Baudrillard’s analyses point to a significant reversal of the relation between representation and reality. Previously, the media were believed to mirror, reflect, or represent reality, whereas now the media are coming to constitute a hyperreality, a new media reality which is “more real than real” , an ideology of a constructed perfection where “the real” is subordinately less important to us than the representation which leads to a steady deterioration of the meaning of 'the real'. 

Baudrillard accuses “The Implosion of Meaning in the Media,” (sudden inward collapse) and states that rapid increase of signs and information in the media destroys meaning through rendering and dissolving all content — a process which leads both to a collapse of honest meaning and the destruction of distinctions between media and reality. 

Our society is littered with media messages, information and meaning “implode” transforming into meaningless “noise,” pure effect without content or meaning (postmodern). For  Baudrillard: “information is directly destructive of meaning and signification, or neutralizes it. The loss of meaning is directly linked to the dissolving and dissuasive (deterring from) action of information, the media, and the mass media .... Information devours its own contents; it devours communication and the social .... information dissolves meaning and the social into a sort of nebulous (hazy) state leading not at all to a surfeit (excessive amount) of innovation but to the very contrary, to total entropy (lack of energy)” 
(Baudrillard cites the example of Disney World as an artificial construction of reality)

Pastiche = 
Combining together different styles and content from different periods within the same text, creating unusual combinations of borrowed styles from different eras. Music videos use a montage of images from classic films, advertising, television, or rap, and filmed with unusual, non-traditional techniques. 

(^ something we aim to do in our video borrowing material from all across the 20th century, using a variety of media texts to support our exploration)

Breakdowns of master narratives featuring the final triumph of good over evil through science or human problem-solving, as well as a clear distinction between reality and fiction. ( Blue Velvet, Pulp Fiction, Mulholland Drive, Run Lola Run, and Memento) - PM. The texts continually elude definitive interpretation of “true meanings,” by parodying and playing with alternative narrative development and assumptions about the meaning of images. The seemingly tranquil town in Blue Velvet is anything but tranquil. 

Pulp Fiction uses three different versions of a the same crime story (borrowed from detective novels and B-crime films). Mulholland Drive, Run Lola Run, and Memento all create alternative narratives based around the same events, challenging audience assumptions about “what really happened.” - enigma unanswered▪ 'Mulholland Drive 'denotes the story of one version of events based upon a traditional story of an virginal female who arrives in HW to become a big shot star, which is then juxtaposed  against a darker version of the same event. 'Run Lola Run' portrays x3 alternative versions of the same event. While 'Memento' shows events occurring in reverse, dealing with issues of memory and time. They all oppose and openly challenge traditional narratives or ways of knowing conveys the important role of the media in shaping perceptions of reality — that experience is disputed and constructed through media images and discourses. (written / spoken communication of debate)

Media forums can create mass reproduction of texts, creating copies for which there is no original (nothing is ever invited merely borrowed / stolen and then adapted and twisted). This is what Baudrillard (1983) described as a “hyperreality” based on simulation of reality. Much of contemporary art plays with the idea of endless copies or parodying of texts that only create a simulation of reality that focuses on the image or surface of reality (no deeper meaning or intended purpose) 

Consumerism and commercialisation can also be viewed as postmodern in that it both celebrates and parodies consumer products, as evident in Target advertisements which portray multiple images of consumer products. 

There is often a fragmentation of sensibility and the plurality and variety of perspectives evident in the often random juxtaposition of images (subjective work) in music videos or contemporary art. Using parodies and different versions of reality by incorporating multiple references to images from previous films or texts - for example the opening of the TV series 'Desperate Housewives'. This fragmentation and focus on surface images creates self-reflexivity — the need to reflect on the lack of coherent meaning, as well as an ironic humour.

 



 Popular culture and media image dominate the age and thus they dominate our sense of reality. The world is now 'intertextual' (images, copies and simulations  are so global that there are no authentic originals left in this day and age) The result is that popular culture has replaced art and 'high' culture (the set of cultural products, mainly in the arts, held in the highest esteem by a culture) and the contrived (deliberately created) and the simulated (manufactured) have replaced the reality of experience and history. How and what we consume has now become much more important than what and how we produce (-An audience over an author).

Postmodernism is about style. Pastiche, collage, bricolage (the mixing and re-using of images, signs and symbols) are emphasised at the expense of content or substance.

Time, space history and place have become less secure - more confused - chronology doesn't matter. The forces of global communications and networks are eroding national cultures. This causes tension and uncertainty. - we know everything about everyone - mystery is history

Postmodernism is sceptical about absolute truths, artistic, scientific, historical or political, so a secure sense of time and place is becoming more difficult to sustain. Once secure theories are now open to question and doubt. - the personal is political.

     

http://www.e4.com/schoolofcomedy/

  

* Simulacrum = An image or representation of someone or something.

               

(interesting powerpoint i found)

• ". . . [postmodern] cross-over between: (1) the fine arts/avant-garde tradition (abstract), (2) the mass-media [e.g. TV program and commercial, fasion catwalk, film pastiche]  (3) vernacular culture (or sub-cultures), (4) the new technologies (mainly electronic)" (Wollen 229)
• ". . . videos are said to forsake the usual oppositions between high and low culture; between masculine and feminine; between established literary and filmic genres; between past, present and future; between the private and the public sphere; between verbal and visual hierarchies; between realism and anti-realism, etc." (Kaplan237) 
• 1. [MTV's] fusion of high art and popular culture discourses

2. The abandonment of grand narrative structures . . .in the nonrealist construction of the video clips and in the MTV text itself
3. intertextuality and pastiche
4. Intertextuality and pastiche . . . blure historical/chronological distinctions, so conventional notions of past, present and future are lost in the pot-pourri of images, all of which are made to seem contemporary. 
5. 'schizophrenic' abandonment of rational, liberal-humanist discourse which creates a nihilistic (The rejection of all religious and moral principles, often in the belief that life is meaningless/ Extreme skepticism, according to which nothing in the world has a real existence.) amoral (no moral sense) universe of representation  -- lack of political social engagement or new forms of politcal resistance (Goodwin 45-46)