Postmodernism.

Postmodernism is a difficult concept to define - postmodernism is intended as a rejection of conventional reality and conventional forms.

Postmodernism deliberately rejects:
-Boundaries between high and low forms of art
-Rigid genre distinctions.

Postmodern texts favour:

-Pastiche (a work of art that borrows or imitates from the work or style of other artists)
-Parody (a humorous imitation of something serious)
-Reflexivity and self-consciousness
-Fragmentation and discontinuity (especially in narrative structure)
-Intertextuality - one text may make use of a different text in order to add a different layer of meaning (referentiality)
-Bricolage takes intertextuality a stage further (a French term for putting together different articles as in punk fashion). Bricolage suggests that this referentiality has been used in such a way that a new meaning has been constructed, e.g. fusion of documentary, game show, and soap opera became reality TV show 'Big Brother'.
-Irony and playfulness.

An example of a postmodern film :-
Moulin Rouge...



Moulin Rouge directed by Baz Luhrman, is a postmodern romance in terms of theme, characterization, musical and setting. The intertextual love story, the songs, which are tied to each other with the pastiche technique and a musical within a musical are some of the postmodern characteristics of this film.

The Gulf War can be seen as the first postmodern war. Postmodern philosopher Jean Baudrillard described it as a 'masquerade of information'. The media recorded 'smart' missiles from America able to purely destroy Iraqi missiles without killing innocent civilians. However, this was not the case as American bombing caused large civilian casualties - extremely under reported by the media. The Gulf War is a postmodern because the media has presented a version of reality, also known as simulacra.