TV: Postmodernism and Deutschland 83

 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?

It was stereotypical ideas of binary opposition under the topic of good vs bad .

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

It misrepresents the true examples of the cold war through postmodern treatment .

3) Pick out some of the aspects of the opening of episode 1 and explain why they are significant.

The jump to when Martin is caught is a demonstration of high pace editing and inter-titles which demonstrates historical contexts . President Reagen's speech is being listened to and is quoted to be evil which signifies the agenda during the cold war .

4) How does the party scene at Martin's mum's house subvert stereotypes of East Germany in the Cold War?

One way the text subverts the stereotypes of Cold War dramas is through its representation of the East. The most revealing is the party scene at Martin’s house when he returns from leave in East Germany. Martin arrives and embraces family members in a garden. In the living room, young people  are drinking beers and dancing and singing to the Cold War era protest song ‘99 Luftballoons’ that is later played in the West German barracks .

5) What aspects of the episode set in West Germany offer postmodern elements?

The montage of spy training clearly connotes to the spy genre but the style of editing signifies a pastiche .

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

 Jean Baudrillard conveys that the true reality of origins are unknown therefore meaning we would be unable to see a clear image of what truly occurred during the east-west Germany issue .

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)?

1. The breakdown of the distinction between culture and

society – (mediaization).

Art once attempted to reflect reality. Postmodern reality now

incorporates art in the form of media texts and today we make sense

of reality with reference to media texts. The media reality of an event

or an object can be more ‘real’ for audiences than the object itself.

2. An emphasis on style at the expense of substance and

content.

Contemporary culture places values appearances over function.

The culture celebrates external factors such as good looks in a

person rather than internal qualities such as intelligence and talent.

3. The breakdown of the distinction between high culture

(art) and popular culture.

There once was a time when high art was removed from popular

culture. High art such as opera, ballet, theatre and the visual arts

were only accessible to elite groups whilst low art was intended for

the masses.

4. Confusions over time and space.

In today’s society we have accelerated the speed information can

travel over distances. Satellites beam down television links from

other countries in seconds. The internet can send mail to someone

on the other side of the world in hardly any time at all; where once

it would take days to get to the nearest city we now have access to

most of the world in just hours using modern travel networks or in

seconds via electronic communication.

5. The decline of meta-narratives.

Meta-narratives (or grand narratives (Lyotard) literally meaning

‘big stories’) are the ideas and concepts that have been used to

attempt to explain the way the world is and the way it should be.

Human history is full of these grand narratives from religion to

political/economic theories. Communism, Fascism, Liberalism and

Socialism are some examples of grand narratives that have been

applied in various contexts in the last 100 years. In postmodern

society it is argued that people no longer believe there are absolute

ways to explain reality. Perhaps high profile failures of some grand

narratives (like the fall of the Soviet version of Communism in 1989)

have led people to question whether it is possible to find an all

encompassing ‘answer’ to social and economic problems. Whilst

many people still have religious convictions, Britain can be seen to

have become a more secular society demonstrating that religious

ideas have less influence socially than they did before WW2.

Postmodernism denies there can be any single truths/realities as

most of our cultural understanding is based on the personal

interpretations we make from the media representations that

dominate our culture, therefore grand narratives are too simplistic

and too narrow in their approach.

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

Jameson believes that as mediaization increases so the culture finds itself losing a sense of historical context. History is now reduced to ‘talking heads’ documentaries and historical knowledge is often based on media representations.

This signifies the cold war that happened between west and east Germany .

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

. People are strongly influenced by branding when buying products. The label sometimes becomes more important than the product itself and packaging is more important than the contents. People will pay high prices for products which bear the logo of a fashionable label regardless of the actual quality of the product.

• The modern rise of celebrities launched through reality television programmes such as Big Brother can be seen as the culture celebrating style over substance. Many celebrities are now famous for being famous rather than for an identifiable talent or ability.

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, ballet, theatre and the visual arts were only accessible to elite groups whilst low art such as pop music was intended for the masses. This links to Deutschland as the low art pop music 99 Red Balloons Go By is repeatedly played throughout the episode.

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

Bricolage refers to jumbled and the adapting of texts. This links to Deutschland 83 such as the revealing of the official documents that Ronald Reagan himself signed off back in the past but now coming into light into a 2015 drama. 

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.

Meta-narratives are the ideas and concepts that have been used to attempt to explain the way the world is and the way it should be. In postmodern society it is argued that people no longer believe there are absolute ways to explain reality. as most of our cultural understanding is based on the personal interpretations we make from the media representations that dominate our culture, therefore grand narratives are too simplistic and too narrow in their approach. Audiences still respond positively to classical structures and representations as they are more familiar and more reassuring. however, postmodern construction of texts and ideas began to become more prominent in mainstream media. people preferred the more comforting approach that conventional text construction provided. conventional ideas and structures are beginning to be more visible in mainstream media text production once more.

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

Deutschland 83 demonstrates aspects of postmodernism in its construction and ideological positioning as it is written from the perspective of a young Stasi officer in east Germany which is not what is usually seen with pieces of media from this time.

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

The scene in the supermarket where the lyrics being played on the speaker linked to martins situation .