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Showing posts from May, 2026

Music Video: Postmodernism in music video

Music Video: Postmodernism in music video Postmodernism in music video: Blog tasks Media Magazine Theory Drop - Postmodernism Create a new blog post called 'Postmodernism in music video: blog tasks'. Read ‘The Theory Drop: Postmodernism’ in MM66  (p26). You'll  find our Media Magazine archive here  - remember you'll need your Greenford Google login to access. Answer the following questions: 1) How does the article define postmodernism in the first page of the article? Postmodernism rejects one fixed truth. It mixes genres and questions reality. 2) What did media theorist and Semiotician Roland Barthes suggest in his essay ' The Death of the Author '?  Barthes said the audience creates the meaning, not the author. 3) What is metatextuality?  Metatextuality is when a media text reminds the audience it is a constructed text. 4) What is the repeated phrase on the cartoon on postmodernism on page 28? But what does it mean? 5) How does postmodernism link to media repr...

The Specials - Ghost Town: Blog tasks

Background and historical contexts Read  this excellent analysis from The Conversation website of the impact Ghost Town had both musically and visually . Answer the following questions 1)  Why does the writer link the song to cinematic soundtracks and music hall tradition? Because the song has a dramatic, film-like atmosphere and combines entertainment with social commentary, similar to music hall traditions. 2) What subcultures did 2 Tone emerge from in the late 1970s? 2 Tone emerged from punk, ska, reggae and working-class youth cultures. 3) What social contexts are discussed regarding the UK in 1981? High unemployment, economic decline, racial tensions and urban riots. 4) Cultural critic Mark Fisher describes the video as ‘eerie’. What do you think is 'eerie' about the Ghost Town video? The empty streets, dark atmosphere and deserted urban locations create a haunting and unsettling feeling. 5) Look at the final section (‘Not a dance track’). What does the writer suggest m...

Postcolonial theory: blog tasks

  Wider reading on race and Old Town Road Read  this W Magazine deep dive on the Yeehaw agenda  and answer the following questions:  1) What are the visual cues the article lists as linked to the western genre?  The article identifies visual cues such as cowboy hats, boots, horses, denim, fringed jackets, and desert landscapes. These are all traditional symbols of the Western genre and help create a recognisable cowboy image. 2) How did the Yeehaw agenda come about?  The Yeehaw agenda began as an online trend. It grew through memes, fashion, and music, with artists like Lil Nas X helping popularise it. It became a way to celebrate Black identity in cowboy culture. 3) Why has it been suggested that the black cowboy has been 'erased from American culture'?  The article suggests Black cowboys were erased because history and media have mainly focused on white cowboys. In reality, many cowboys were Black, but this has been ignored in films and popular cult...