Postmodern Media: Arguments for and against Postmodernism

What is postmodernism?

Postmodernism is a theory which means literally after modernity. The theory of postmodernism refers to the incipient or actual dissolution of those social forms associated with modernity. Sarup in 1993 sated "There is a sense in which if one see's modernism as the culture of modernity, postmodernism is the culture of post modernity. According to Baudrillard in 1984 he defined postmodernism as how we should come to terms with the second revolution which is that of the 20th century of postmodernity which is the immense process of destruction of the meaning equal to the earlier destruction of appearances. Whoever lives by meaning dies by meaning (Ashley 1990). Whereas Ryan Bishop in his essay, Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology in 1996 defined postmodernism, as an electic movement which originated in aesthetics, architecture and philosophy. postmodernism also espouses a systematic skepticism of grounded theoretical perspectives. When applied to anthropology, this skepticism is focused on the observation of a particular society to the observation of the (anthropological) observer. Postmodernism is also known to concentrate on the tensions of differences and similarity which erupts from the process of globalization, which is the circulation of people, which is increasingly dense and frequent cross cultural interactions and the unavoidable intersections of global and local knowledge.

Baudrillard breaks down modernity and postmodernity in an effort to explain the world as a set of models. He identifies modernity as a period between the renaisance and the industrial revolution and postmodernity as the period of mass media e.g. cinema and photography. Baudrillard states we live in a world of images but images which are only simulations. He also implies that many people fail to understand this concept in which we have moved into an epoch where truth is entirely a product of common values and where science itself is just the name weattach to certain modes of explanantions.

Arguments for Postmodernism:

The main arguments for Postmodernism are:

There is no unity, even the unity of chaos is not.
There is no individual.
There's a individual representative of absolute truth and unity of knowledge.
The only way of understanding humanity and collective action is by first understanding that it isn't a uniform. Second, one must continue with rather pedestrian understanding by figuring in the complex nexus of power engendering forms of Foucauldian genealogies coupled with a discursive shift of the modular nation state qua sexual (inter) sexual from inherent to the (post) hegemonic fabric of the intrinsic and rather self evident tears within the Bourdiean poly-habititic stream etc. A swift punch to the groin is life affirming.
A text has no logic following of words.
All truths are constructed and have to be abolished.

Arguments against Postmodernism:

http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Postmodernism%20and%20Its%20Critics

Postmodernists are also known to be suspicious of authorative definitions and singular narratives of any trajectory of events (Bishop, 1993). Postmodernism also attacks on ethnography are based on the belief that their is no true objectivity. The authentic implementation of the scientific method is possible.

According to Rosenau, postmodernism can be divided into two camps, Skeptics and Affirmatives.

Skeptical Postmodernists-They are critical of the modern subject. They consider the subject to be linguistic convention( Rosenau, 1992). They also reject any understanding of time because of for them in the modern understanding of time is oppressive in which it controls and measures individuals. They also reject theory because theories are abundant and no theory is considered more correct then any other theory. They feel as if theories actually conceal, distorts and alienated, disparate, dissonant which means to exclude order and control rival powers (1992, Rosenau).
Affirmative Postmodernists-These postmodernists reject theory by denying claims of truth. They however feel that theory needs to be abolished but merely transformed. They support movements organized around peace, environment and feminism (1993, Rosenau).

Roy Andrade in one of his articles criticizes postmodernism definition of objectivity and subjectivity by examining the moral nature of their models. He argues these models are subjective. He argues despite the fact that utterly value free objectivity is impossible as its the goal of the anthropologists to get as a possible to the ideal. He argues there is a seperation between moral and and objective models because they are counterproductive in discovering how the world works. He states that postmodernism stand on objectivity isn't dehumanizing or nor is it objectively impossible. He states science works as it produces unbiased accounts because they are objective enough to be proved or disapproved no matter what anyone wants to be true. Patricia Greenfield believes postmodernism's complete lack of objectivity and its tendency to push political agendas, makes it virtually useless in any scientific investigation. She also states using resources in the field of psychology help anthropologists gain a better grasp on cultural relativism while still maintaining their objectivity.

Rosenau identified six contradictions in postmodernism theory:

Its anti theoretical position is essentially a theoretical stand.
Postmodernism stresses the irrational instruments of of reason are freely employed to advance to its perspective.
The postmodernist prescription to focus on the marginal itself an evaluative emphasis of precisely of the sort that it attacks.
It stresses intertexuality but often treats texts in isolation.
By rejecting modern criteria for assessing theory, they cannot argue there is no valid criteria for judgement.
They also criticize the inconsistency of modernism but refuse to be held to norms of consistency itself.
They also contradict themselves by relinquishing truth claims in their own writings.

Melford Spiro addresses six propositions from John Searle's 1993 work, Rationality and Realism:

Reality exists independtly of human representations. If this is true, this postulate, supports the existence of mind indendent external reality this is called metaphysical realism.
Language communicates meaning but refers to objects and situations in the world which is exist independently of language. This postulate supports the concept of language as have communicative and referential functions.
Statements are true or false depending on whether the objects and situations to which they correspond to a greater or lesser degree to the statements. This correspondence theory of truth is to some extent the theory of truth for postmodernists but this concept is rejected by postmodernists as essentialists.
Knowledge is objective. This signifies the truth of a knowledge independent of the motive, culture or gender of the person who makes the claim. As knowledge depends on empirical support.
Logic and rationality provides a set of methods and procedures which enable the researcher to assess competing knowledge claims through, reason, validity and proof.
Objective and intersubjective criteria judge the merit of statements, theories etc.

Melford Spiro agrees with postmodernists that the social sciences require different techniques for the study of humanity than do the natural sciences but while insight and empathy are critical of mind and culture, intellectual responsibility requires objective scientific methods in the social sciences. Without objective procedures ethnography is dubious and irresponsible.
Postmodernist genre of ethnography has been criticized for fostering a self indulgent subjectivity and exagerates the esoteric and unique aspects of a certain culture at the expense of more prosiac but significant questions(Bishop, 1996).
Bob McKinley believes postmodernism is more of a religion than a science. He argues the origin of postmodernism is the western emphasis on individualism, which makes postmodernists reluctant to acknowledge the existence of distinct multi-individual cultures.
Christopher Norris believes postmodernist theorists such as Lyotard, Baudrillard and Foucault are too caught up in the idea of the primacy of moral judgements. Also in reaction to the postmodernist movement, Marshall Sahlins addressed several issues which includes the definition of power."The current Focauldian-Gramascian- Nietzschean obsession with power is the latest incarnation of of anthropology's incurable functionalism, "Now power is the intellectual black hole into which all kinds of cultural contents get sucked, if before it was social solidarity of material advantage.
Intuitive interpretation is a postmodernist interpretation which is introspective and anti objectivist which is a form of individualized understanding, as it is more of a vision then data observation. For postmodernists there are an endless number of interpretations. Foucault argues everything is an interpretation (Dreyfus and Rainbow, 1993). There is no final meaning for any particular sign, or no notion of unitary sense of text, no interpretation can be argued as superior to any other (Latour, 1988). Anti postmodernists defend their notion that every interpretation is false. Interpretative anthropology is a covering label for a diverse set of reflections upon the practice of ethnography and the concept of culture (Marcus and Fisher, 1986).

Stanley Kubrick's filming techniques, Social realism:

Faces_of_Stanley_Kubrick_Woody_Lindsey_jpg

Below this picture of Stanley Kubrick is a link to a website of how Stanley Kubrick uses film making techniques on social realism and how his uses these techniques which are considered to be elements of postmodern cinema. Which I plan to analyse and use in my revision and apply to my study of which I could refer to these cinematic techniques used by Kubrick within his films, to show my understanding of postmodern media. After analyzing these filmmaking techniques I will also try to apply them to other postmodernist films.

http://filmdirectors.co/stanley-kubrick-filmmaking-techniques/

Examples of postmodern Film directors: