Postmodernism & 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?

good vs evil / west vs east

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

Because it uses bricolage, pastiche and hyper reality like when they use archive footage or the president on the tv 

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

Hyper reality - archive footage, tv screen, historical deafness, set in real place

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

They don’t seem very unhappy but are enjoying their party 

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

The fully stocked shelves, everything is grand and in excess compared to the east

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

 Baurdrillard argued that audiences view the copy of reality in the media as more real than the original and the audience might seen it as more real than the actual war

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)?

The X factor

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

Superficial surface level history 

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

The rise of celebrities and people are strongly influenced by branding 

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?

Andy Warhol and the reference to his painting and the music

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

It is the juxtaposition of old and new media texts

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.

Ideas the suggest how society should be 

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

Based on real life events - offers nostalgia 

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

The fully stacked shelves in the super market, the characters watching tv and the real archive footage 

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.