TV: Postmodernism and Deutschland 83

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)?
Strinati gives an example on postmodernity through mediaization in the way an advertising campaign can make or break a product. A good adcampaign can create commercial success despite the product being poor quality and a high quality product can be a failure if it has poor advertising. He also states that contemporary culture emphasises style over substance, Appearance is more important than function as people are strongly influenced through brand names when buying products.The increase of celebrities being famous for no particular reason shows this.

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

 He argues 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. 

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

People value the label and packaging higher than the quality of the actual product. People pay high prices for the label and brand name with no question to whether it's a good quality product or not. Shows such as 'Big Brother' have made people famous just for being famous, rather than having an actual 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?

Pop music is seen as low art and Classical music is seen as high art. Low art was only accessible to the masses. In East Germany the music in the house was pop (low art), and then in the West the girl was singing popular culture low art but the father liked high art classical. The elite or ones in power have access to high art.

5) What is bricolage? What examples of bricolage can be found in Deutschland 83?Bricolage refers to the process of adapting and juxtaposing old and new texts, images, ideas or narratives to produce whole new meanings. The opening scene references Karl Marx and Shakespeare which is an example of bricolage in the show. 

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.
Nostalgia is the main audience pleasure shown in Deutschland 83. The links to postmodernism is mainly the brands and technology that is used. As a modern audience watching this, we look at this and are surprised at how much things have actually changed. The 'grand-narrative' of the show are the events around Able Archer but the show does focus on the fall of communism and the USSR. Meta-narratives were therefore less applicable to the world as communism was falling. Postmodernism doesn't look to one single truth to explain the world, therefore Deutschland '83 is more postmodern.

7) Read the analysis of media concepts and postmodern approaches on page 3 of the factsheet. Choose three of the concepts and write an example from Deutschland 83. Clue: genre, representation, ideology and audience would all be good options for this task.

The spy genre is emphasised through the use of cinematography and music. We can see how they have used various shots such as through the blinds, windows, higher angles (it makes us feel as if we're watching CCTV footage) to create enigma and tension for the audience. Also, the music is paced according to the situation.

We can see this used in Deutschland 83 because of the distinction between the culture in East Germany and West Germany. In East Germany we can see how they have set it in a surrounding which looks down graded compared to the posh West Germany. This is also emphasised through colour, East Germany is dull and de-saturated, whereas West Germany is much more vibrant.
This can be seen because the people from UK and US viewed the show in a positive way, rather than a German audience which didn't like the show. They consciously chose if they want to watch the show.

8) 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 the postmodern in its construction and ideological positioning because the whole show is based on true historical context, but they have used a fictional narrative to engage with the audience. They have used mise-en-scene and cinematography to strengthen the narrative. 

9) Which key scenes from Deutschland 83 best provide examples of postmodernism? Why?
The spy scene - The training sequence has a James Bond vibe where there's a two minute montage spanning several weeks watching him learn and develop his skills but also the cinematography makes us feel we're watching him and that we are spying on him. The interchangeability mixed with the mise-en-scene which reinforces the realism of the 80s makes this scene a great example of postmodernism.

10) Why might audiences enjoy the postmodern aspects of Deutschland 83? What audience pleasures might elements of bricolage or pastiche provide viewers?

The show is based around the popular culture of the 80s. This type of show would usually be watched by the masses, the consumers and not the producers. The aspects of intertextaulity is something that people enjoy a lot down to the tech to the costumes and sounds. 

The bricolage aspects of authenticity with the archived footage and the documents of the East German targeted strikes gives the audiences pleasure that the detail was looked into in depth. The Pastiche of the mise-en-scene such as the cars, costumes, music and TV Set gives audiences the pleasure of nostalgia. sheet. H