Baudrillard and the Matrix

We hope your break was rewarding and relaxing, and before we get onto our next topic of White Noise and Consumerism, this is a space for you to post any thoughts, questions or comments you may have regarding Baudrillard and The Matrix.

If you're interested in Baudrillard, you might want to read up on Guy Debord, an important predecessor. Debord's most famous text was The Society of the Spectacle, which begins:

"In societies dominated by modern conditions of production, life is presented as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has receded into a representation."

That's back in 1967. Not hard to see the influence on Baudrillard's later theories of simulation.

And now for the news.

Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert, according to reports.

The pop legend is currently understood to be living in the city, as he considers making a comeback after 2004's turbulent child sex case.

It has now been claimed that his plans include an elaborate show in Vegas, which would feature the giant Jacko striding around the desert, firing laser beams.

If built, the metal monster would apparently be visible to aircraft as they come in to land in the casino capital.

It is the centre-piece of an elaborate Jackson-inspired show in Vegas, according to Andre Van Pier, the robot's designer.

Luckman Van Pier, his partner at the company behind the proposal, claims blueprints have been drawn-up for the show and seen by the star.

"Michael's looked at the sketches and likes them", he told the New York Daily News.

On the subject of the robot, he continued: "It would be in the desert sands. Laser beams would shoot out of it so it would be the first thing people flying in would see."

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And here's a video for Japanese pop singer Yuki as directed by artist Nagi Noda - interesting for the way it plays with an aesthetic similar to the "bullet time" of The Matrix, but reversed: instead of technology allowing an impossible perspective, it creates all effects in-camera, with no digital post-production. The director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the upcoming Science of Sleep) is very much at the leading edge of this style of filmmaking, too.

But is this an attempt to recover the 'real', in opposition to the excessive artifice of contemporary filmmaking technology? It's quite different to the Dogme movement, however, which attempts to do away with all unnecessary elements in the making of a film - lighting, soundtrack, script etc. Can one kind of film be more 'real' than another, or would Baudrillard argue that this is the wrong question to ask?

The Crying of Lot 49 and the Problem of Interpretation

This week we're looking at postmodernism's challenge to the notion of interpretation - that is, who decides the "meaning" of a text? The author? The reader? And is there meaning "in" texts at all?

Thomas Pynchon's novel seems to explicitly address these questions, offering a central character whose increasingly frustrating attempts to determine the truth about her world mirror the reader's.

Post your thoughts or questions regarding the novel here. You might even find some answers.

And while you're at it, you could do worse than looking up the online reader's guide which is in the process of being created. Importantly, it's a wiki, which means it's created by readers and is as much an interpretation as anything else. Don't take it as a definitive explanation of what the novel is "about". At the very least, though, it does offer intriguing hints, links and ponderings. It's far from complete, though (if completion were ever possible for this sort of project).

And for some fun, why not take a quiz to find out what sort of postmodernist you are.

Postmodernism, History and Slaughterhouse 5

This week's topic is destined to one for the history students and literature buffs out there.

We've seen in the last few weeks that Jameson thinks one of the key features of postmodernism is a crisis in history: because it cannot come to grips with history, postmodern art and literature is condemned to recycle images of the past through pastiche and nostalgia. This week, Canadian literary theorist Linda Hutcheon takes a much more optimistic view about the capacity of postmodern writers to engage critically with the past by questioning the ways in which we access and represent it.

So, who has the stronger argument?

And what do you think of the first novel on the course: Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse 5?

Postmodern Space(s)

What does it mean to describe a space, or a building, as postmodern?

What's your experience of postmodern spaces?

In addition to any questions or comments you have related to this week's reading, this is a chance to wax lyrical about your favourite postmodern spaces...

First Essay Questions Now Available

Essay questions, advice on essay writing and guidelines for essay submission can all be downloaded from the postmodernism LMS site
(login your unimelb email username and password)

Hints, tips, questions and comments to follow.

Postmodernism, or, the Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism

Jameson. Questions? Comments? Observations in anticipation of tutorials?

Don't be shy!

Is Wikipedia enough?

Looking beyond Wikipedia - and yes, there is a world beyond it! - here are some excellent online resources that will help you get a handle on the basics of postmodernism:

Written in dot-points and table form, this succinct intro from the University of Georgetown has been included in many a postmodernism reader.

From Purdue University, a lengthier and more historically-focused introduction.

The University of Colorado lists resources according to theorist.

Postmodern Culture is one of the most respected journals published in the field.
Another worth checking out is Kritikos.

Last but not least, if you're feeling shaky about the distinction between sign and signified, signifier and signification, then Daniel Chandler's Semiotics for Beginners is for you.

Enjoy!