Global Digital Postmodernity

This video helps show how the view of fame has changed as it becomes part of the post modern era. It depicts how Richard Heany potentially used his six year old son to attempt to gain national recognition. It was rumored that this former Wife Swaps contestant planning to create a new reality show in which he and his scientific experiments would be the star. Heany did anything he could to attempt to gain the fleeting attention of today's population. He utilized the sympathetic and curious natures of people and manipulated them in an attempt to make himself a household name.

The webpage "The Postmodern Critique of Science" gives a helpful chart comparing the traditional scientific principle and the postmodern critique of that traditional scientific principle. The chart includes topics such as scientific progress, scientific objectivity, scientific rationality and many more. It explains and defines what each of these principles are and then proceeds to give a postmodern take on each of them. It takes such ideas as "Scientists are supposed to be objective observers" and battles it through a postmodern approach saying that "Observations do not interpret themselves. They are interpreted by a mind and the biases of any particular person or group conducting the experiment." The article continues in this manner, challenging ideas like the scientific method with postmodern views that contradict it. While giving specific rebuttals to each scientific principle, the article allows the reader to gain insight into how a postmodernist would think. It shows how postmodernists question what has always been thought of to be true and contradict old "modern" ideas with new insightful ways of thinking.

This video, most likely made by college students, is a very simple approach to postmodernism. Within the video concepts such as universal conflicts are brought up and then somewhat explained. This video is somewhat difficult to follow but that is part of what makes it so appropriate to represent the post modern era. This video is a satire, it is fragmented, ironic and the concepts are farsical. It simplifies the idea of postmodernity and shows what it means to be postmodern.

This video starts by beginning the modern movement in art. It shows images that are recognizable pieces of art such as works by Picasso. It moves on to discuss Marx and socialism, capitalism and Freud and psychoanalytic theory. The build up to postmodernism becomes obvious as the voice over becomes faster and louder. As the video discusses postmodernism, rather than flashing images and giving explanations, mouths say names of processes, concepts, images, etc. that are postmodern. The video is fragmented and difficult to define, much like most things in the postmodern era. This video not only discusses how things have become or are postmodern, but is a postmodern video within itself.

In his essay, Michael Taflove discusses the idea of basic reality versus hyperreality. He explains simulation theory and tells how it has broken into the postmodern era. Taflove shows the internet as the most postmodern form of hyperreality. The internet allows people to live as whomever they would like to be in a world separate from reality. It is almost to a point where people do not know who they are in the real world. The idea that someone can live in a completely virtual reality is certainly a postmodern concept. Taflove uses the Matrix as an example of how it is becoming more difficult to discover what is true reality and whether anyone exists within the idea of what this true reality is.

In the very beginning of the article, the author states that he feels there is no exact definition of what post-modernity is, so the fact that all of these controversies and conflictions between people about what is or isn't postmodern is no surprise to him. However, he thinks that defining what is simply a characteristic of post-modernity, is a relatively exact science. For this article, he decides to give a few examples of what a postmodern characteristic is, in general, and then goes right into how these characteristics can be applied to dance and how the institution of dance has developed over the years. Some of the general characteristics are of post-modernity are self-referencing, mocking, ironic, parody, and a mixture of "high art" and "low art". Some of the characteristics of post-modernity as applied specifically to dance are vernacular movement and dress, more emphasis on image, and less on plot, and a mixing of genres. This article is great because it is a short read, but there is a lot of very helpful information compacted into a little space so none of your energy and time will go to waste.

Engaging in a very interesting and often avoided topic of religion, "Exploring Christianity-Truth-Postmodernism", not only gives a religious definition of postmodernism but also explains the impact postmodernism has had on religion, especially Christianity. This article embraces postmodernism in reference to religion, explaining that "postmodernism does not rule out religion as did modernism." The article seems to almost congratulate postmodernism for its ideas, as many of these ideas are congruent to some religious ideas. The article discusses morality as being relative in both religion and in postmodernity, and also explains how tolerance (a key point in defining postmodernity according to the authors) also relates to religious views. The article also emphasizes individualism as it pertains to postmodernism. Furthermore, it discusses the relevance of the "rewriting of history" as seen in postmodernism to Christianity. Consequently, the article in beneficial in that it provides the reader with definitions, quotes from both scholars and priests, and links to other articles about religion, truth, postmodernism and new age thinking among others.

The video "What is Postmodernism" begins by asking people on the street "what is postmodernism?" Many average people had no clue how to define it which is quite common. Later the video presents various scholars and their views on what postmodernism is which gives a great montage of definitions and perspectives. This video attempts to answer questions such as "how has postmodernism affected our culture?", "what is postmodernism?" And "how the turn of the century has affected our culture and in turn led to postmodernity?" The video also discusses the religious impacts of postmodernism, something that many articles fail to discuss although religion is always a pressing issue. Another interesting topic this video discusses is the topic of modern and postmodern medicine. All in all, despite being only 4 minutes and 7 seconds long, this video is very beneficial in gaining insight into what exactly postmodernity is by pointing out general characteristics and specific characteristics of the postmodern movement.

The article, "The Postmodern Novel", starts off by giving good definitions of what pre-modernism, modernism, and post-modernism are and how exactly they can be applied to literature. The author says that pre-modernism assumes that the man is ruled by authority or tradition, modernism is influenced by humanism and the Enlightenment, man rejects tradition and authority in favor of a reliance on reason and on scientific discovery, and post-modernism stretches and breaks away from the idea that man can achieve understanding through a reliance on reason and science. Lastly, some examples as to what exactly can be considered post-modernism in literature are given, such as a playfulness with language, experimentation with the form of the novel, and a mixture of "high art" and popular culture.

This article, written by John Barth, goes into much detail about what modernism is, what postmodernism is, and how we are shifting from modernism to postmodernism. He explains to you how he kind of disagrees with the whole idea of modernism as a whole as applied to fiction. He thinks that there is no clear definition for the term postmodernism and for the characteristics of postmodernist fiction in this era, and some scholars claim that postmodernism is the extension or the opposition of modernism in a way. In this essay, John Barth shows his disagreement with this notion, and at the same time he also points out his liking of some qualities of literature of the last century. Towards the end, there is a helpful chart which shows some of the most obvious, and direct, differences between modernity and post-modernity.

The art and popular culture encyclopedia's article on postmodern architecture is valuable when trying to gain insight into what defines postmodernity. "Postmodern Architecture" begins by defining postmodernity, and explaining that as with many cultural movements, it's "most visible ideas can be seen architecture". This article not only gives examples of postmodern architecture but explains the architecture's relevance to postmodernity. By explaining postmodernism architecture's relationship, or moreover, contrast to previous styles of architecture, the authors have also explained an implied contrast to previous aspects of culture, art, and philosophy. The article also focuses on the aims and characteristics of postmodernism as a whole and postmodernism as seen in architecture. Furthermore, the authors give background information as well as detailed information of Robert Venturi, a frontrunner of the postmodern architectural movement. The foremost campaigner of the rebellion against modern architecture, Venturi's architecture possesses almost each and every characteristic of postmodern architecture, making him a prime example.

An article that examines the conceot of postmodernism as a time period that follows modernity and challenges its ideas, using argument and examples. Author is a professor at Emory University. Short Bibliograpphy.

this one too http://hermes.hrc.ntu.edu.tw/lctd/asp/theory/theories/4/concept_2.htm

The site recognizes the inability to truly label a period in which you live and how many different eras have thought themselves modern. Highlights of the modern era are noted as well as the aspect of impressionism, expressionism, surrealism, and absurdism in literature. There is also a list of characteristics of modern literature very clearly describing much to do with classifying a work as modern. Characteristics of postmodernity are then also listed comparing it to modernism and stating what is different. The overall information that the site gives helps readers differentiate what separates the two types of literature in an understandable format.

Excerpt from a longer work that defines postmodenity in the context of social change, written by David Harvey, a professor of geograpthy and social theory. Includes examples, an explanation of his argument, defintions, etc and a bibiolographty

A webcomic is a comic strip syndicated by the author himself through the internet. XKCD is a particularly witty webcomic that tends to make light of trends in the digital world and/or popular culture, notably science fiction. The disclaimer on the site warns, "this comic occasionally contains strong language (which may be unsuitable for children), unusual humor (which may be unsuitable for adults), and advanced mathematics (which may be unsuitable for liberal-arts majors)." It blurs the modernist's line between disciplines; math and the sciences, traditionally serious subjects, are treated with as much respect as is usually reserved for die-hard academics of literature or philosophy. It is also interesting in that the author supports himself entirely through the sale of XKCD related merchandise, usually featuring some kind of reference or punchline from a particular comic. While the webcomic might just be a digital representation of a modern idea, the critical acclaim and level of humor apparent in XKCD lend itself to being a very postmodern comic.

The Longest Poem in the World, written by everyone using the social networking service Twitter, is a project conceived by Andrei Gheorghe. The site "aggregat[es] real-time public twitter updates and selecting those that rhyme", even selecting for nontraditional spelling and dialectal rhyme. The emphasis on user-generated content, the fragmentation of a thousand users randomly (and unknowingly, and anonymously) taking part in a project, and the playful nature with which it addresses the traditional form of poetry are all strong evidence of its postmodern nature.

Only one of infinitely many internet memes, a "lolcat" is a photograph of a cat or kitten with an amusing caption added to the photo, usually written in "lolspeak" - a variety of English that diverges most often in certain grammatical and orthographical constructs. Lolcats were first generated on the image board 4chan and soon spread to become an internet phenomenon. Both the images and captions are user-generated, and often jokes are expanded upon by other users and have developed themes, such as "Monorail Cat", "Ceiling/Basement Cat", and "Invisible (object)". This solidifies their postmodernism; their playful use of language and image, along with their strong egalitarian forum of expression, also contribute strongly.

This group of videos was a play created by several students at the university of Michigan who wrote the musical based on and parodying the Harry Potter book series by J.K. Rowling. They then casted the parts and performed it for a 3 day period of time and 5 times in total at a local non-profit student-run theater company, but was video-taped and put on YouTube. The reason this video is post-modern because if it weren't for YouTube, the play would never have become as popular as it is today, where people around the country know of it. Due to the success of the video series on Youtube, the writers and producers are able to create more and more plays and musicals are becoming exponentially more famous they would have been had a site like Youtube not been created. Now the creators and actors in this musical are appearing on television and such fame would not be possible if the internet and current technology was available.

Wikipedia, a project of the Wikimedia foundation, is an online, free-access encyclopedia designed so that any user can contribute to any article. Although the site tends to be panned for the possibility of deliberate disruption, properly sourced articles are often as good or better than older encyclopedias; Wikipedia also enjoys the potential benefits of being absolutely current, having articles edited as new information arises. This radical restructuring of the traditional academic hierarchy, and the reduction of time before current accuracy is achieved, makes Wikipedia (and its related projects: WikiNews, Wiktionary, Wikimedia Commons, etc) postmodern.

"Oh No They Didn't", commonly referred to as ONTD, is a celebrity news and gossip site on the blogging site livejournal.com. Sporting the mantra, "the celebrities are disposable. the content is priceless." on the main page, this site stands apart from the countless other celebrity gossip sites out there because its content is largely user-generated, and every member has the ability to post stories if they so choose. All members also have the ability to comment on every post. Along with facilitating the fifteen minutes (or more) of fame for every celebrity chronicled, ONTD has become a place where all bloggers are created equal- no more waiting for Perez Hilton to break a story on his site. As soon as a member gets word of a story, the story is broken, and a free for all can then ensue.