Can anybody give me a brief essay plan/structure on post-modernism as a 33 marker??? Thank you!!
Hey! For an intro I'd talk about the basic assumptions of postmodernism. So Enlightenment is dead, we've entered a new era, surrounded by technology, diversity of lifestyles and so on but only in a brief kind of passing sentence as this will be covered later on. After this I'd discuss the differences between modern and postmodern society and explain why postmodernists argue that there has been a massive change. So for example, technological innovations have shown that science can be used for bad so people no longer believe in this meta-narrative of science helping the world, structures have broken down and people are now living in a diversity of lifestyles, people are no longer confined by gender/class etc compared to the past. Then probably a paragraph on family diversity to show synoptic links to the question so talking about one parent families, homosexual couples etc. Make sure you explain how this all shows that society is so fragmented and diverse now that modern theories can no longer apply as their information cannot account for this variation in lifestyles. Linking on from this lifestyles point, I'd talk about Bauman's pick and mix approach to culture. He discusses the idea that in a postmodern world, we all have access to varying cultures due to the media and we can construct our identities in any way we want. Link to religious choice, so if we want Buddhist beliefs mixed with Christian we can do that. We are no longer defined by structures but we construct our own selves as long as no one takes us too seriously and our fashions are always in flux, meaning we can always change. Evaluate this with a marxist/feminist comparison which argues that Bauman overstates freedom of choice and patriarchy/capitalism still oppresses people limiting their choices to this day. Refute this by saying that it is impossible to reject the view that cultural boundaries are becoming blurred as many people now immerse themselves in aspects of other classes, such as middle class binge drinking, something once seen as confined to the working class. Then talk about how this construction of reality relates to the way in which nothing is truly real anymore. Bring in Baudrillard's argument of simulacra, everything is a meaningless sign that stands for a false reality. Show Disneyland as an example as it is a fabrication of a fantasy world that we believe is real when we visit when it actually represents nothing in reality. Evaluate this by stating that we can distinguish reality and the media, people are not simply passive observes and can tell the difference between a war in a film and a war in real life on the news. Evaluate further with the Marxist argument that the media is owned by the bourgeoise and the idea of simulacra is an RSA to buy off oppression to the capitalist regime. State that regardless of the criticisms, it is important to note Baudrillard believes this fictional construction of the world means we cannot change the world anymore as nothing is real-Enlightenment is dead. Bring in Lyotard's idea that the world no longer relies on meta-narratives and instead celebrates diversity of viewpoints. No one has access to the truth, Enlightenment is dead due to the death of the scientific meta-narrative. We can only offer our viewpoint Then link this into their rejection of research methods. Postmodernists don't carry out research as it isn't a true view of the world, it is just someone elses viewpoint that is imposed through methodology. Criticise this with the logical flaw that if everything is based on meta-narratives, why should we trust Lyotard? Then bring in the idea of late modernity and Giddens/Beck, that we still can change this world by being reflexive. Conclusion would probably consist of stating that we have not truly entered the postmodern era yet but we will soon, and we need to prepare for when we do. Bit long winded and if it's too much cut down points that you don't feel confident on/don't like but I hope it helped in some way!
