Postmodernism & Deutschland 83
Media Magazine - A Postmodern Reimagining of the Past
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?
The Cold war often fit a stereotypical binary ‘good vs evil’ where there was seen to be a lot of tension and hostility between the Soviet bloc countries and the West.
2) Why does Deutschland 83 provide a particularly good example for postmodern analysis?
Postmodern analysis is implemented within the spy genre where is was a staple of 70s television, most notably on the BBC. There is also the representation of communist East is presented grey and stark, no billboards, culture or entertainment and strict limitations of citizens’ movements and availability of certain foods whereas the capitalist West, in contrast, is a world of department stores, restaurants and cars, pop-culture and entertainment and free movement.
3) Pick out some of the aspects of the opening of episode 1 and explain why they are significant.
There is a conversation shown between Lenora and another high-ranking Stasi official about sending
Martin to West Germany to spy on General Edel, who is thought to be colluding with America. The decision is made to recreate 1980s offices this tense and reflective exchanges that perfectly
imitate and pastiche the period.
4) How does the party scene at Martin's mum's house subvert stereotypes of East Germany in the Cold War?
In Martins mums living room, there were many young people drinking beers and dancing and singing to the Cold War era protest song ‘99 Luftballoons’ that is later played in the West German barracks too. This scene is able to subvert the representation of the East beyond the operators of the restrictive state to the humanity as they are freely enjoying themselves.
5) What aspects of the episode set in West Germany offer postmodern elements?
When Martin is able to be in West Germany, the supermarket scene played the Eurythmics 1980’s pop song ‘Sweet Dreams are Made of This’ as Martin explores the volume and choice of products
available in the West. This was able to give a postmodern element to the whole show where this songs release was far from the Cold war.
6) Finally, how does the article apply postmodern theory to Deutschland 83 and link it to the potential target audience?
Postmodern theorist Baudrillard, Simulacra reveal that there is no fixed, absolute truth; and Deutschland 83 certainly challenges our preconceptions of this period of history. This links to how a potential audience can be mixed from people who feel nostalgic to others who want to explore more of history through a modern viewpoint.
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)?
It provides evidence on Advertising as it can make or break a company irrespective of the
2) What is Fredric Jameson's idea of 'historical deafness'? How can the idea of 'historical deafness' be applied to Deutschland 83?
Fredric Jameson argues that as medialization increases so the culture finds itself losing a sense of historical context. This can link to Deutschland 83 where it has become modernised and is no longer reflecting the true times of the Cold war.
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)?
It provides evidence on Advertising as it can make or break a company irrespective of the
quality of the product they are selling, a poor quality product can be commercially successful if it has great advertising whilst an excellent product can fail without it.
Fredric Jameson argues that as medialization increases so the culture finds itself losing a sense of historical context. This can link to Deutschland 83 where it has become modernised and is no longer reflecting the true times of the Cold war.
3) What examples and theories are provided for the idea of 'style over substance'?
The main example is of people who are strongly influenced by branding when buying
products. This shows the value of style over substance as they often want to fit into society.
In postmodern culture Andy Warhol created multi-coloured prints of the Mona Lisa and Campbell’s soup cans which was a very popular pop art shown in the famous supermarket scene where the shelves where filled with neatly placed products.
5) What is bricolage? What examples of bricolage can be found in Deutschland 83?
Bricolage is the idea of mixing references where the process of adapting and juxtaposing old and new texts, images, ideas or narratives to produce whole new meanings is normalised.
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. Audience pleasures such as surveillance seen through camera angles, often show educational purposes in Deutschland 83 where we can learn about the conditions of the Cold war of both East and West Germany. This way postmodernism is a useful tool, not only to consider text construction but also context and the relationship between contemporary audiences and texts.
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 is based on real life events where some audience may feel nostalgic and relate to those times. It is a series that implements postmodernism with crafted emotions to fictional characters and hyper-reality .
Deutschland 83 is based on real life events where some audience may feel nostalgic and relate to those times. It is a series that implements postmodernism with crafted emotions to fictional characters and hyper-reality .
8) Which key scenes from Deutschland 83 best provide examples of postmodernism? Why?
Main scene that reinforces postmodernism is definitely the supermarket scene where Martin has run away in the West stumbling upon a fully stocked perfectly shelved shop that referenced popular pop art whilst also playing a song that was non existent during the Cold war.
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