Postmodernism & Deutschland 83: blog tasks

Media Magazine 73 has a feature exploring Deutschland 83 as a postmodern media product. Read ‘Deutschland 83 - A Postmodern Reimagining of the Past’ in MM73  (p18). You'll find our Media Magazine archive here - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions:

1) What were the classic media representations of the Cold War?

The west was correct as they were more western and media was very western controlled.

2) Why does Deutschland 83 provide a particularly good example for postmodern analysis? 
 Deutschland 83

however is not your typical Cold War text for a number of reasons but perhaps the most significant is that it has a young Stasi officer as its main protagonist. It is an example of a text that re imagines the past by blurring  the established views of the Cold War through a postmodern treatment.

3) Pick out some of the aspects of the opening of episode 1 and explain why they are significant.
 The briefcase scene , this is because it creates a hyper reality as the documents were not real but they are portrayed like they are.

4) How does the party scene at Martin's mum's house subvert stereotypes of East Germany in the Cold War?
 It subverts stereotypes because the east is the part of the country that is presented as weak and under supplied. However instead of sulking they are happy doing a BBQ.

5) What aspects of the episode set in West Germany offer postmodern elements?
 When during the BBQ the daughter reveals that she doesn't want to sing opera instead she want to sing 'black' music but she can not as it is not allowed. This suggests that some part of the world is moving on.

6) Finally, how does the article apply postmodern theory to Deutschland 83 and link it to the potential target audience?

The idea of breaking down distinctions between high and low art and incorporating elements of popular culture is key to a postmodern treatment. Martin’s first glimpse of West Germany connotes western opulence – a

chandelier, the lavishly colourful images of Gustav Klimt’s painting ‘The Kiss’ strategically placed within the wide

shot. However, Martin’s first taste of western consumerism, in the supermarket scene is playfully underscored by the Eurythmics 1980’s pop song ‘Sweet Dreams are Made of This’ as Martin wonders at the volume and choice of products available in the West.

Postmodernism Factsheet

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet #54: Introduction to Postmodernism. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets. If you need to access this from home you can find our factsheet archive here (you'll need to use your Greenford login).

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)?
 Advertising can make or break a company irrespective of the quality of the product they are selling, a poor quality product can be commercially successful if it has great advertising whilst an excellent product can fail without it.

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

3) What examples and theories are provided for the idea of 'style over substance'?
  

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?

 

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

 

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.

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

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

There is a lot of challenging work here - you will have plenty of time to complete it so take it slowly, read around the subject and re-watch the scenes from the first episode on All4 to help develop impressive academic answers to these questions