Criticism of Postmodernism

Dominic Strinati - "Fetishised Hyperreality" where the simulation has lost all connection or objective with reality.
"Postmodernism tries to come to terms with and understand a media-saturated society. The mass media, for example, were once thought of as holding up a mirror to, and thereby reflecting, a wider social reality. Now that reality is only definable in terms of surface reflection of the mirror." - meaning society has become subsumed within the mass media, the term implies that there is a reality outside the surface simulation of the media which can be distored. This is the issue that postmodernist point out - how can we tell what is right if we no longer know what is real?


"Postmodernism is sceptical of any absolute, universal and all-embracing claim to knowledge and argues that theories or doctrines which make such claims are increasingly open to criticism, contestation and doubt." (Strinati) This links to Jean-Francois Lyotard's theory of Micro-Narratives where narratives are unpredictable which can often leave the audience open to interpret the reasoning or purpose of the text.


"Media images encourage superficiality rather than substance, cynicism rather than belief, the thirst for constant change rather than security of stable traditions, the desires of the moment rather than the truths of history." - meaning postmodern TV & film have become dominated by surface style and imagery rather than deeper underlying themes, which might relate to the "realities" of society.


Carla Kaplan (1987) identifies that music videos abandon narrative structure, they make no attempt to tell a story instead the power of a music video lies in the collage of images mixed with music - there is no deeper meaning or purpose it.


Frederic Jameson agrees with this calling it "Depthlessness" of contemporary cultural production - sees it as superficial cutting & pasting of ready-made images and styles which are abstracted from their true origins and reused in meaningless new combinations in the trivial commercialized space created by mass culture which will wear out with time. "The writers and artists of the present day will no longer be able to invent new styles and worlds... only a limited number of combinations are possible, the most unique ones have been thought of already."