“ self-reflexivity ” & parody in postmodern popular culture
Post on 22-Dec-2015
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Parody and Metafiction defined; Examples from painting and photography. Self-Reflexivity in Ads
Why parody and metafiction?1. Both are dominant postmodern genres which mo
ve beyond their textual boundaries to show that a text is a group of “texts” and holds intertextual relations to its society.
2. Both serve to illustrate how postmodernism challenges/deconstructs author-ities.
3. In poststructuralist terms, • text = construction, • author = signs in a text or discourses in societ
y.
4. They are both “self-reflexive.” self = author, text and language/construction.
What is “meta-”?
Fr. Greek meta-, “beside, after”; or “above, upon, or about” (in other words, both referring to and transforming/transcending at the same time). 後設
What is metafiction?
Easy signs
story within the story; frame within the frame;
TV within TV Historical figures
juxtaposed with fictional ones;
Digression, discussion of plot, exposure of typographical signs… whatever stops you from being immersed in the story.
Self-Reflexive Arts: general definitionArt which expose its own artificiality (and that of
its target), e.g. artistic medium(stage, language, camera),
creative process; artistic frames, story,
by 1) denying the author’s power; 2) bringing its context into the text; 3) making narrative intrusion, speaking to
the audience/reader; 4) refusing to tell the whole story or
revealing its untruthfulness.
Challenging or Undermining “Reality” & Realism
Some metafictional methods: 1. Discuss/expose novelistic elements or frames; 2. Undermining the “Author’s” abilities to control meanings; 3. Parody or pastiche
Different kinds of “reality”: Belief/stereotype, History, Memory, Life, Identity
Realist conventions: omniscient narrator (author-god), progressive & linear history, characters with depth. • Fourth wall in theatre
Self = masterpiece or kitsch Masterpiece, 1962 (137,2x137,2)
Mr & Mrs Melvin Hirsch,
Metafiction: e.g. (1) --
In what ways is this painting
Self-reflexive?
Parody: Definitions
Comic and/or critical imitation + revision. (comic parody; critical parody, metafictional parody.)
Jameson: parody: critique of a classical norm; pastiche: meaningless combination of fragments without a sense of norm.
Parodies in Popular Culture
電視模仿風 & parodies of politicians :李祖惜(侯冠群﹚;附總統(倪敏然﹚;張俊熊(高凌風﹚
Sesame Streets’ parodies: Bruce Springsteen's "Born To Run“ “Born to Add”
Beatles’ “Let it Be” “Letter B” music & music videos: by 豬頭皮, "Weird Al"
YankovicFilms: Mel Brook’s films (Young Frankenstein, etc.)
Woody Allen’s films.
Parodies in Arts
Paintings: e.g. “The Last Supper”, “Scream” etc.Photography:
(left: Big Bad Chinese Mama right: Cindy Sherman)
Parody: Related Issues
critical parody or playful imitation? The issue of copyright. e.g. a 1992 U.S. case, Rogers v. Koons; Mattel v. Walking Mountain Productions (Tom Forysthe’s products );
parody or pastiche? Loss of history, meaning? Schizophrenic lack of depth?Challenging originality, author & author-ities.
parody or pastiche?
1) Richard Hamilton
Just What Is It That Makes Today's Home So Different, So Appealing? (1956)
How is ‘Today’s home’ critiqued?
--example of pastiche:
Self-Reflexivity in Ads and a Film
Parody, Imitation or Self-Aggrandizement -- without undermining the “reality” it sells
One More Example for analysis: gender & identity. 國際 VISA 組織 -VISA 在手盡其在我 - 羅拉
( 完整 ) 篇1. Signs? Connotations? Distortion?
2. Is the woman all powerful?
Two More Examples for analysis: gender & identity
. 國際VISA組織-VISA在手盡其在我-羅拉(完整)篇1. Signs: frame within the frame1) of the Gothic: woman in a cape; old mansion/computer game
parlor; a secret pass;2) of electronic game -- virtual reality with a woman presented in
double;3) sci-fi: strong woman in black tight-fit dress, 1. Is the woman all powerful?
Apparently, the two women empower each other; Actually, the visa card is power.
2. Distortion: money = power; game = reality3. Symptom Revealed: everything is construction, but the powe
r of money and electronic game is stronger than anything else.
Examples for analysis: gender & identity
TOYOTA-VIOS 1.6-目光吸引篇 1. Signs? Objectification of the Woman?
2. Myth vs. Reality?
Two More Examples for analysis: gender & identity
TOYOTA-VIOS 1.6-目光吸引篇 1. Main idea: “What do you want?” “Vios, it’s everything.”2. Signs: Glass Building and Ads1) the car: Silver gray colors, in a clean but empty city with glass buil
dings; easy, fast and smooth driving luxury and power (The whole city is emptied out.)
2) Objectification of the Woman? A woman larger than life (with the power of T.V. wall+glass building) the woman’s flowing hair, gaze and smile are signs of the man’s self-projection of power, ease and desirability.
1. Distorted: city, the woman an ad and its interpellation( 召喚 ) in disguise
2. Symptom Revealed: spectacle/image society; “The TV is watching us.” “The TV spectacle desires by us.”