TV:Post modernism and Deutschland 83

1) Read the section on Strinati's five ways to define postmodernity. What examples are provided of the breakdown of the distinction between culture and society (media-isation)?

• The characters Bruno and Borat created by Sacha Baron Cohen
• Xfactor contestants performing cover versions of cover versions of songs

2) What is Fredric Jameson's idea of 'historical deafness'? How can the idea of 'historical deafness' be applied to Deutschland 83?

Jamenson argues that as mediasation increases the culture finds itself losing historical context. Historical

knowledge is often based on media representations.This can be applied to Deutschland 83 as it is a historical representation of Germany during the Cold War.

3) What examples and theories are provided for the idea of 'style over substance'?
An example given of style over substance is the reality TV programme Big Brother as it promotes celebrities that are known for their looks and being famous rather than having a real talent.

4) What examples from music are provided for the breakdown of the distinction between art and popular culture? Can this be applied to Deutschland 83?

High art such as opera was removed from popular culture whereas low art was popular and for the masses

In Deutschland 83, the elite/wealthier families were listening to classical/opera music whereas middle/working class families were listening to pop music (low art).

5) What is bricolage? What examples of bricolage can be found in Deutschland 83?

This is the process of contrasting old and new texts or images to create a new meaning which can be seen in Deutschland 83 on the cover art which showcases the two sides of Germany and the difference in their cultures.

6) How can the audience pleasures of Deutschland 83 be linked to postmodernism? Read 'The decline of meta-narratives' and 'Media texts and the postmodern' to help answer this.

In postmodern society it is argued that people no longer believe there are absolute ways to explain reality. Deutschland 83 present the failure and problems of communism which has led people to question whether it is possible to find an all encompassing 'answer' to social and economic problems.

7) Read the analysis of media concepts and postmodern approaches on page 3 of the factsheet. Choose three of the concepts and write an example from Deutschland 83. Clue: genre, representation, ideology and audience would all be good options for this task.

Genre: spy,drama,historical

representation: west/east germany,masculinity,communism

ideology:west is modern and has more freedom, east is more traditional follows communism

8) Now look at page 4 of the factsheet. How does Deutschland 83 demonstrate aspects of the postmodern in its construction and ideological positioning?

Represents both left and right wing ideologies which is post modern.

9) Which key scenes from Deutschland 83 best provide examples of postmodernism? Why?

The supermarket scene is an example of postmodernism as it has aspects of Andy Warhol's pop culture as well as the PUMA branding on the characters top.

10) Why might audiences enjoy the postmodern aspects of Deutschland 83? What audience pleasures might elements of bricolage or pastiche provide viewers?

The audience can use D83 as surveillance as they are being informed and educated on the cold war and how Germany was at the time. But they are also being entertained at the same time due to the spy genre and can us it as diversion and escape from their everyday lives. Pastiche is used to make the show more appealing to a younger audience.