- Normativity is the standard normal (mainly behaviour) established by superiors - the phenomenon (remarkable thing) in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good or desirable or permissible (allowed) and others as bad or undesirable or impermissible (not allowed).
- Binary opposition is a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning. Binary opposition is the system by which, in language and thought, two theoretical opposites are strictly defined and set off against one another such as male/female, straight/gay, white/black, culture/nature, mind/body, reason/emotion, skinny/fat. We think in binary opposites all the time e.g. white means good and black bad or men can’t be slut shamed but women can or skinny means prettier and fat is ugly.
- Deconstruction is to dismantle/take apart something which is fixed. Also deconstruction is a method of breaking something into smaller parts for critical analysis of philosophical and literary language which emphasise internal workings of language and conceptual systems. Deconstruction is philosopher Jacques Derrida's critique of the relationship between text and meaning.
- Différance describes both the difference between and postponement of alternate meanings that are deferred or hidden whenever we choose definitions. To look at another view perhaps a completely opposite one, we have to postpone (put aside) our own views in order to see something different or hidden.
- Reinscribe is to reestablish or rename in a new and especially stronger form or context - recontextualise: to place or view a work of literature or art in a new or unfamiliar context, especially in order to suggest a different interpretation.
- Cognitive dissonance is the state of having inconsistent thoughts, beliefs, or attitudes, especially as relating to behavioural decisions and attitude change. Psychologically speaking, cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.
Friday, 27 October 2017
Postmodernism Lecture 6 - Key Words
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Good stuff, Paris - so you can now see how binary oppositions create normativity, and how deconstruction seeks to dismantle normativity in order to reinscribe those binary oppositions. You could argue too that you know when your going through an experience of deconstruction (when your own normativity is being challenged) because you experience cognitive dissonance - that feeling of trying to hold two contrasting ideas together at the same time) - you might say that a lot of postmodern culture is actively seeking to create cognitive dissonance - so Funny Games was stressful because it created cognitive dissonance because it was both suspenseful and boring; it was both traumatic and 'flat'. I think your definitions here are super-useful :)
ReplyDeleteMakes sense to me :)
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