超越模拟:生产和怀旧产业 [3]
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关键词:social science disciplinesmodernist sociological theoristsphenomenonThe protagonists and the forum of debatepolitical economy
doubtedly Italian and she fiercely emphasises these roots in her music, films, and video. On the other hand she is eager to stress her Americaness for without this it is arguable that she would not have reached the position as an artiste that she holds now. Madonna's style of dress and semblances are postmodern because they bring together a clash of styles which enforces the notion of simulation. At various points in her career she has used imagery which has varied from the whore to the virgin, the diva to the girl next door, the mother to the daughter, the dominatrix to the subservient woman, with historical references from many eras, past, present, and future. Now, this example may seem to have little relevance to social theory, yet theorists (particularly Baudrillard) employ pastiches of culture and context in order to explain social phenomena. Postmodernists would examine phenomena such as the theme park in order to identify the pastiche of influences and discourses that make up our experience of what a theme park really is2.
2.3. The reflexivity of postmodernism.
Secondly, there is an important element of reflexivity within postmodernism, ie. the theory must be capable of referring to itself, it must have an inbuilt cogency and logic. Another aspect of reflexivity is a capacity for self awareness, the ability for people to reflect on their own situations. It follows therefore, that knowledge is not rationally or logically extracted from existing knowledge, rather it is a contingent product of social processes (Woolgar 1988:1)3.
2.4. Postmodernism and relativism.
The third tenet of postmodernism is a tendency to favour relativism rather than appealing to an empirical and objective ontology and epistemology. That is to say, there is no appeal to objective standards of truth, thus it follows that one phenomenon can only stand in relation to another phenomenon. As an example of this approach we take the phenomena of gender and sexuality. Now, the male can only stand in relation to the female, if there was no female gender it would make the existence of the male gender impossible. That is to say that what we can know about male gender, and therefore male sexuality, can only be defined in terms of what we know about female gender and sexuality. In addition it is therefore fair to say that heterosexuality amongst both male and female can only exist in relation to homosexuality. To take this discussion a step further we could argue that the only reason we know that a table is a table is because of its relationship to us. We call it a table because of its particular properties and what we can objectively know about it; ie. it has legs, a top, and it
is used to place other items upon. Postmodernist theorists would emphasise that all we can know about any object is what discourses surrounding that object tell us. If one takes such a philosophical stand-point, there can therefore, be no way of validating the truth of ones own theoretical models, thus, all theory is of equal status. This argument does not differ significantly from the structuralist arguments of, for example, Claude Levi-Strauss.
2.5. The rejection of meta-narrative.
Fourthly, there is a tendency to object to the use of techniques such as narrative (as used in post-structuralist thought) and meta-narrative which are aimed at depicting reality. This stand is taken because any such meta-narratives, such as the Bible, are socially constructed, they exist only in discours
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