This document outlines key elements found in postmodern texts, including: hypereality which questions what is real; dystopian narratives with negative outcomes; voyeurism and being watched (panopticanisation); self-reflexivity where texts draw attention to their own constructed nature; nostalgia for the past; non-linear narratives; hybrids of high and low art forms; intertextuality through references to other works; and bricolage through merging different elements to create something new. It provides examples of each element and considers them hallmarks of postmodernism's questioning of conventions and reality.

1. How to spot a Postmodern Text
POST MODERN ELEMENTS EXAMPLES
Hypereality
Proposed by the philosopher Jean
Baudrillard, hypereality is the shift
from texts that reflect an external
reality to reflecting one in which
reality is false or exaggerated.
A reality which is based on a reality
which is not real.
Dystopian Narratives
Narratives become dystopian or
negative, downbeat. Often the
"bad" guys win or everyone dies.
Often these texts suggest a lack of
hope in the future
(also includes flattening of effect)
Voyeurism/Panopticanisation/
Scopophillia
Texts that are obsessed by the
process of looking at others or the
process of looking.
These films suggest a society
dependent upon the visual
consumption of others.
People change behaviour when they
know they are being watched
(panopticanisation)
Self Reflexivity
This is where a text knows it's a text
and draws attention to it's
structure, production and/or
conventions to the audience. In
doing so, inverts (reverses) itself
reflecting its own reality rather than
an outside one.
(often where characters talk to camera or you
can see them on set)
Nostalgia
There is no future so why not
recycle the past? Using remakes and
a glossy positive memory of the past
to create distracting entertainment
from contemporary times.
(linked to nothing new)
(non-original material)

2. Non Linear Narratives
Breaking up the rules of narrative,
staring at the end, jumping around
in time or even making a film run
backwards to create something
new.
MANIPULATION OF TIME AND
SPACE.
High art / low art hybrids
Cinema is largely considered a mass
entertainment and low art, so
juxtaposing it with "high" art is seen
as a way of producing something
new.
Intertextuality
If there are no ideas left out there,
steal your ideas from other media or
reflect them in your texts.
*The problem with this is that is can
only make sense if you've seen what
it's referencing
*Pastiche, parody, homage are part
of intertextuality
Hybridisation or Bricolage/
Juxtaposition
This occurs when attempting to
create something new by merging
two existing objects together.
The result of forming new
conventions is called Bricolage
Juxtaposition is a mash up of
contrasting/opposing elements.
Anything Artificial
Moving away from anything natural
or organic represents a sense of
hyperreality and un naturalness that
is at the centre of Postmodern ideas
KEY TERM CHECKLIST
Non linear narratives High/low art hybrids Self reflexivity
Artificialness Dystopian narratives (& pessimism) Non realism
Hyperreality Voyerism Nostalgia
Hybridisation/hybrids Bricolage Juxtaposition
Intertextuality: Homage, Pastiche, Parody