Postmodernism: Vocabulary Flashcards (Visual Culture)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the Postmodernism notes, including Derrida, Baudrillard, Barthes, Lyotard, and related concepts.

Postmodernism

A critical framework that challenges grand narratives, embraces multiplicity and fragmentation, and treats knowledge and reality as socially constructed rather than fixed.

Modernism

Predating postmodernism; emphasizes grand narratives, universal truths, stability, and a rational pursuit of objective knowledge.

Grand Narratives

Universalizing stories (e.g., progress, truth, emancipation) that postmodern theory critiques for masking complexity.

Deconstruction

Derrida’s method of reading that shows meaning as fluid and language as a system of differences; emphasizes intertextuality and the instability of texts.

Différance

Derrida’s term for meaning that is always deferred and different, never fully present.

Intertextuality

The idea that texts derive meaning from their relations to other texts; no single text has fixed meaning.

Simulacrum

A copy without an original; a representation that can be more real than the thing it represents.

Simulation

The process of generating simulacra or replicas that create reality effects and blur the line between real and representation.

Hyperreality

A state in which simulations become more compelling than reality, making it hard to distinguish the two.

Pastiche

Imitation of past styles without satirical intent, highlighting fabrication and stylistic play.

Parody

Imitation with a satirical edge intended to critique previous meanings or styles.

Irony

A rhetorical device where there is a contrast between appearance and reality or expectation and outcome.

Self-reflexivity

A text or artwork that draws attention to its own construction and the processes of meaning-making.

Late Capitalism

Advanced global capitalism; media and culture are shaped by economic interests and commodity relations.

Audience Commodity

Dallas Smythe’s idea that audiences, not content, are the primary product sold to advertisers.

Propaganda Model

Idea that media can be managed by powerful interests to reproduce the ideological field of society.

Death of the Author

Barthes’ claim that meaning lies with the reader, not the author’s intentions.

Binary Oppositions

Pairs (e.g., male/female, nature/culture) whose rigid hierarchies postmodern thought seeks to destabilize.

Postmodern Subjectivity

Identity viewed as fluid and performative, shaped by gender, class, race, and other factors.

Posthuman Subjectivity

A move beyond human-centered thinking, emphasizing materiality and interconnection.

Representation / Language

How the world is staged and described; language shapes meaning and can reveal power dynamics.

Saussure Semiotics

Meaning arises from differences within a system of signs rather than direct reference to reality.

Iterability

The repeatability of signs that can carry traces of prior meanings, producing new interpretations.

Transdisciplinarity

Postmodern approach that crosses disciplinary boundaries to synthesize diverse perspectives.