Another of the more visible areas of Media Studies that guided the field toward Critical approaches was the incorporation of Postmodern and Post-Structural theory (Huyssen, 1984; Jameson, 1984; Lyotard, 1979/1984; McRobbie, 1994; Storey, 2018). Neither body of theory is easily defined due to the very goals of these theories: they resist structure, permanence, and definition. In fact, postmodernity encourages alternatives to definitions and structures (Jameson, 1984a, 1984b, 1991; Lyotard, 1979/1984; McRobbie, 1994; Storey, 2018). For example, postmodern scholar Huyssen (1984) explains:
I will not attempt here to define what postmodernism is. The term 'postmodernism' itself should guard us against such an approach as it positions the phenomenon as relational. Modernism as that from which postmodernism is breaking away remains inscribed into the very word with which we describe our distance from modernism.... postmodernism's critical dimension lies precisely in its radical questioning of those presuppositions which linked modernism and the avantgarde to the mindset of modernization. (pp. 10-11).
Instead of defining postmodernism and post-structuralism, most of the theorists working in these areas focus instead on the relationships between postmodern artifacts and culture, power structures and artifacts, power structures and audiences, and media artifacts and postmodern beliefs (Eagleton, 1985; Foucault, 1969/1972; Huyssen, 1984; Jameson, 1984a, 1984b, 1991; Lyotard, 1979/1984; McRobbie, 1994; Storey, 2018). Postmodernists also focus on the question of whether mediated communication informs, influences, and structures the "real" world, or reflects and echoes truths already present in the "real".
The Postmodern Era
Modernism and Postmodernism are concepts that are discussed in multiple ways, though generally postmodernism is considered to be a contrasting response to modernism (Huyssen, 1984; Jameson, 1984; McRobbie, 1994; Storey, 2018). Modernism is concerned with understanding the truth through its component realities and structures, seeking a more metaphysical or Platonic Ideal of truth beyond our understanding of existence (Huyssen, 1984). Postmodernism, in contrast, questions whether a stable reality can exist at all, and whether conflicting values and truths can simultaneously exist (Lyotard, 1979/1984). The way that each of these concepts plays out and is usually defined generally lies in reference to one of the following:
Historical era
Aesthetic style or artistic sensibility
Theory or means of seeking meaning
Theorist Angela McRobbie (1994) argues that postmodernism and postmodernity are a site of negotiation between hegemonic power structures and social change or potential. Postmodern theory as well as postmodern media artifacts both act in this regard, providing a space for potential change (Mumby, 1997).
Both of these movements emerged, in part, as a response to global political complexities that had become reality for the movements' proponents. Industrialization, shifting notions of empire building, increasing need for and use of communication technologies, and eventually the World Wars engendered a need for critiquing and understanding the world (Foucault, 1969/1972; Jameson, 1984a, 1984b, 1991; Lyotard, 1979/1984). Modernists, those generating the ideas, art, and energies in earlier of the two movements, responded to the changing world dynamics by seeking a measure of control. Modernism is futurist in value, and aims toward creating utopian ideals, echoing Plato's Idealism and many earlier social movements (Eagleton, 1985; Mumby, 1997).
In contrast, postmodernism evolved in response to modernist values and idealism.
These bodies of theory developed as a reaction to modernist philosophical viewpoints and scientific positivism (Dewolf, 1946; Eagleton, 1985; Mumby, 1997). Modernism developed out of evolution theories, and its scholars focus on progress and reaching toward utopian goals. Positivism focuses on how sensory data can be used as evidence to reach toward a solid truth, generally utilizing scientific methods. Postmodernism rejects the idea that there is one stable reality or truth out there, and rejects the idea that we are moving toward a specific future perfection (Lyotard, 1979/1984).
In his book The Postmodern Condition, Lyotard (1979/1984) examines the mythic qualities of a stable truth, questioning how we are consumed by our consumption of mediated and politicized realities. He specifically examines the concept of the metanarrative, challenging audiences to consider whether a centralized ideal truth is blinding us to realities hidden by the stories that construct that truth.
Think about the work of a postmodern artist like Picasso, and how it rejects the normal or normative forms of structure. Instead, postmodernists argue that we are living in a time where multiple truths and values are colliding, and where our identities and values are constantly in a state of change.
Post-Structural Theory
Post-Structuralism developed alongside postmodernism as a response to modernism and structuralism; a body of thought that argues that all of society has a steady structure. Post-structuralists argue that since social structures are rhetorically constructed, there is not a natural or postitivist truth about them, and so changes are possible (Baudrillard, 1981/1994; Butler, 1990; Derrida, 1967/1997; Foucault, 1969/1972). Most Post-Structuralists argue that as humans we need to free our minds from the structures that oppress us and find new ways of defining social structures. Both of these theoretical bodies view popular culture through the Marxist lens as a social normalizing entity. However, unlike the early Frankfurt School Marxists, these scholars also view the prevalence of popular culture as a site where new and oppositional ideas from various elements of society can be highlighted and negotiated.
Once French postmodern theories were translated and reframed by American scholars like Fredric Jameson, a desire to focus on popular media as a space where the values of producers and audiences clash became dominant. Jameson (1984) argued that we live in a postmodern world, characterized by postmodern elements like pastiche, or popular culture building on and constantly referencing itself; and a crisis of history and ideology in America, meaning lived experience does not connect to the way that History and Ideology are traditionally taught and understood. For example, consider an episode of Family Guy. To watch this series, one has to understand the constant layering of popular culture references over and over in individual episodes. Interpretation highlighting pastiche also serves as cultural critique within examples of postmodern popular culture as it challenges what we think about ideology by constantly poking holes in rhetorically constructed social “truths.” In some ways, this pastiche is a microcosm of what Jameson argued was happening throughout American popular culture.
Note how the forms and popular culture norms are adapted, copied, parodied, altered, and re-created within the following example:
Power is also investigated in post-structuralism. Foucault’s Archaeology of Knowledge(Foucault, 1969/1972) as discussed in module 2 is a post-structural argument as it illustrates historical shifts in the structure of knowledge. By looking at the power structures responsible for the production of different types of knowledge we can also start to see how the relationship between knowledge and power oppresses some while empowering others.
As we discussed in module 2, Foucault argues that everything has a history, including history itself, and therefore the power behind those metanarratives should be investigated. The use of media by those in power to reinforce the knowledge and power structures is one of the key areas of investigation in post-structural media theory.
Derrida's (1967/1997) deconstruction is another post-structural theory that media scholars use to examine the impact of structure on media production and consumption. As discussed in module 2, Derrida examines how rhetorical constructs are rooted in power, and how audience interpretation rather than authorial intent is the determining factor in the acceptance of the rhetorical truth. Derrida argues that we are dealing with constructs rather than stable truths, intended to make society function, feel better about itself, and guide us to maintain the structure we allowed those in power to produce.
Yet, we have the power to alter that truth, especially if we consider the binary at the core of a rhetorically constructed system of power. Binaries are based on Ferdinand de Saussure's (1916/1959) structuralist notion of binary oppositions between two mutually exclusive terms that are defined in direct opposition to each other, i.e. "male" and "female", "black" and "white"; "good" and "evil"; "progressive" and "conservative". In social constructionism, these terms are tied to systems of power that generally privilege one above the other, i.e. "male" is more privileged than "female" in patriarchy. Derrida argues that while these terms are designed to exclude each other, they are also simultaneously dependent on each other in conception. In other words, there is no "male" if there is no "female", there would just be "person." Derrida therefore argues that, since the terms are co-dependent in definition, neither is truly more empowered than the other, thereby making the "truth" of the system of power itself null and void.
Postmodern Media
Postmodernism seeks, rather than to generate utopian ideals, to question the motives, usefulness, and very reality of modernist and systemic ideals. Postmodernism, we can argue, leads toward a dystopian future where multiple conflicting realities can simultaneously exist and interact with each other. Significantly, postmodernism cannot be tightly defined, as to do so disallows the assumptions that underlie postmodern goals. Instead, postmodernism itself builds on a collective of contrasting values and ideals, ultimately generating a sense of freedom that necessitates a lack of confining boundaries.
Postmodernists such as Jean Baudrillard (1981/1994), locate hyperreality at the intersection between lived experience and mediated reality. Mediated truths have become so prevalent in society that some people cannot tell the difference between those truths and the ones that pre-existed media coverage. Ultimately, hyperreality exists because society has replaced physical or natural truths with symbolic ones, because that is how we rhetorically construct truths.
Baudrillard (1987/1988) argues that the saturation of media in society drives consumers to an “ecstasy of communication.” Media products re-create themselves regularly, and, as noted by Jameson, create a pastiche where media products are built one atop the other. This leads us to a hyperreal state of media, through a process of reality shifting from an original to a mediated state of existence. Baudrillard argues that the process of mediated reality is a progression or precession of simulacra (1981/1994). He defines simulacra as reproductions of objects or events in society, through media representation. What occurs is that the representation of reality in the media replaces the original real.
In a sense, the simulacrum is reality that has become confused with its own simulation. Umberto Eco (1973/1986) similarly argues that through mediation and re-creating our world around us, we end up left with authentic fakes.
Baurdrillard argues that this process goes through at least four stages, the model for the precession of simulacra. The first stage is a faithful image that people believe in. The second stage is where we decide that the original image is flawed and isn’t a correct version of reality. Nostalgia, is an example of this stage, where we decide that the past was “like” something that may or may not ever have existed. The third stage is absence. This is where the simulacrum pretends to be real, but we decide that there probably wasn’t a real original, anyway. The fourth and final stage is pure simulation, where the desire to connect the simulacrum to any original truth is no longer important, and we acknowledge the “new” truth in the simulated version of reality.
Take a look at the Precession of Simulacra exercise below. Baudrillard would argue that the original Madison Main Street is no longer real, any more than Disney’s Main Street is real. Both of these have been supplanted by the real that reaches more people as “truth.” Madison’s repeated reconstruction simply serves to illustrate how “unrealistic” our expectations can be.
The Precession of Simulacra: The American Main Street
This first image shows Main Street in Madison Indiana, circa 1950. This is one of the towns the U.S. War Office's interpreted during the Second World War in "The Town," a propaganda film meant to remind the Armed Forces of what they were fighting for "back home." The city of Madison was chosen because it encompassed the values associated with "small town America."
This image depicts Disneyland's Main Street USA. Walt Disney designed this façade to represent a nostalgic view of Main Streets in America, echoing Norman Rockwell images and the propaganda about towns such as Madison.
This mediation was further mediated on TV shows such as The Wonderful World of Disney.
In the 1970s, inspired by Main Street USA in Disneyland and the later one in Walt Disney World, the National Trust for Historic Preservation developed a Main Street Program to preserve Main Street America. Madison was one of three premiere towns chosen. The image above highlights the work of Hollywood actress Irene Dunne, a native of Madison, who donated toward the historic preservation efforts.
Madison's Main Street was therefore 'cleaned up' and 'redesigned' to better reflect the National Trust's interpretation of Main Street America, as influenced by Disney's Main Street USA.
Beginning in the 1980s a new commercial architectural movement began that echoes the National Trust's Main Street America architectural design ideals. New Urbanism copies small town and city life in America into suburban settings by creating a "Main Street" effect with homes, shops, fountains, and walking areas for homeowners.
Madison continued to re-design itself to imitate the values and ideals presented by Disneyland, The National Historic Trust, and New Urbanism.
This ideal was then copied into The Truman Show, as the new utopian ideal, continuing the cycle of simulation...in the desert of the real.
As we move as a society through our current, digital age, the role of hyperreality becomes even more pervasive. Avatars, digital economies, and Facebook statuses all reflect how our realities are becoming more and more connected to media representations. Communication studies increasingly focus on hyperrealities and rhetorical constructions in their mediated forms. Think about political statements today, and the hyperreality of Fox News, or any mediated news entity. How are news programs shaping our understanding of the world? Are they re-creating truths and realities for us, so that the only way we truly understand what is happening in the world is tied to our media access? Is the “real” of the Matrix any different than the “real” created by Orson Welles with his War of the Worlds?
References
Baudrillard, J. (1988). The ecstasy of communication (B. Shutze, & C Shutze, Trans.; S. Lotringer, Ed.). New York: Semiotext(e). Original work published 1987.
Baudrillard, J. (1994). Simulacra and simulation (S.F. Glaser, Trans.). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Original work published 1981.
de Saussure, F. (1959). Course in general linguistics. (W. Baskin, trans.). New York: Philosophical Library. Original work published 1916.
Dewolf, L. H. (1946). The New Modernism. The Philosophical Review, 55(5), 600-603.
Eagleton, T. (1985). Capitalism, modernism and postmodernism. New Left Review, 152(1985), 60-73.
Eco, U. (1986). Faith in fakes (W. Weaver, Trans.). London: Martin Secker & Walberg, Ltd. Original work published 1973.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse on language. (A.M. Sheridan, Trans.). New York: Pantheon. Original work published 1969 and 1971.
Huyssen, A. (1984). Mapping the postmodern. New German Critique, (33), 5-52.
Jameson, F. (1984a). Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism. New Left Review, 146, 59-92.
Jameson, F. (1991). Postmodernism, or, the cultural logic of late capitalism. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
Jameson, F. (1984b). The politics of theory: ideological positions in the postmodernism debate. New German Critique, (33), 53-65.
Lyotard, J.F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge (G. Bennington, & B. Massumi, Trans.). Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press. Original work published 1979.
McRobbie, A., & Mcrobbie, A. (2003). Postmodernism and popular culture. Routledge.
