Perspectives Lecture [4] 'Scream (and Scream Again)- The Avant-Garde is Dead'

 Definitions

Avant-Garde- An individual or group, and/or their work that possesses 'innovative' or 'inventive' qualities, in subject, medium, technique, style or context. It's singular purpose is to push the existing boundaries of art/culture/politics.
Avant-Garde attitudes have been said to begin as far back as the 1850's, and are now often considered to be the hallmark of modernism, separate from postmodernism.
At the height of it's existence, 'Avant-Garde' (a french term meaning 'vanguard' in English), was considered a "positive power over society" (¹). A "priestly function" (¹) that immediately spreads new ideas, which would positively change things across "all intellectual faculties" (¹ Saint-Simon, 1825).
Its origins are often credited to Henri-de Saint-Simon, whose ideas around socialism, saw art (alongside scientists and industrialists) as the leading game changers of society.

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

At the turning point of modernism and post-modernism, the idea around avant-garde went to judging art on the 'originality' of the artist, and "independent of meanings" (Greenberg, 1939).
 Essentially 'art for arts sake', wherein the art shouldn't be judged or influenced by other areas of society, i.e. religion, politics etc. It becomes 'ahistorical', and "valid solely on its own terms" (Greenberg, 1939).
The extreme of this would be  Marcel Duchamp's 'Fountain' (1917), whose idea was that art could now be a toilet. I.e: This is art, because I say it is.

Fig. 3

Nowadays, the term is used more loosely, when defending the "right of free expression, or to appeal for art to uphold tradition and avoid causing offense" ('The Art Story Contributors', 2017).

Nostalgia- A sentimental longing/regard for a specific period of the past.
In regards to 'Postmodernism', this refers to the regurgitation of existing culture, and media's tendency to produce artificial realities that exploits people's nostalgia for purpose of money.
Note 'Disney-world' and 'Las Vegas' who depend upon nostalgia for fantasy worlds, to sell merchandise.
The regurgitation of old films into a new updated versions, or sequels, may come from a "lack of faith in new properties" (Buchbinder, No Date), in film, and relying on "known bankability" (Buchbinder, No Date).
It could also be a product of the "technological apocalypse" (Hutcheon, 1998), wherein nostalgia becomes an "attempt to defy the end, to evade teleology" (Hutcheon, 1998), and revert back to simpler items ("an age of reproducibility often results in nostalgic imitations of yesteryear's mass-produced items (e.g., a CD player in a case resembling an old-time radio", and "...the return of the fountain pen--as an object of consumer luxury--in the age of the computer, when we have all but forgotten how to write” 'Pennsylvania State University’, No Date).

Fig. 4

Appropriation- The act of taking something (whether through 'direct duplication' or heavily implying), and re-featuring it in a different context. This may indirectly change the original meaning, or work with the existing meaning from the original source (often from an identifiable source), so to help accentuate the artist's own ideas to the viewer.

Pastiche- A text that aims to imitate an existing style, time period, or/and an alternative artist's work. This term can either be used in critique of the text's originality, or as a means of celebrating the text as a cleverly "deliberate and playfully imitative tribute" to the original.
It's often a common characteristic of 'postmodernism', wherein attitudes towards originality are skeptical, and the act of making a text that appropriates elements of other works is a more truthful depicting of reality/appeals to that ideology of ambiguity.

Parody- A text that aims to imitate an existing style, time period or/and an alternative artist's work, to an extreme for comedic purposes. This deliberate exaggeration is often used to bring attention to the dubious elements of the original text, so to make fun of it.

Irony- When an event, or statement seems contrary to what we expect, often to humorous effect.  This could either be expression something verbally to 'signify' the opposite, or- in terms of storytelling- can be considered a literary technique (typical in Greek tragedy), when the audience understands full a character's words or actions, while it remains unknown by the main character him/herself.
In relation to 'post-modernity', 'Irony' is often considered as "the only way to get noticed" (²), in a world where "it is hard to be original, because so much has already been created" (2 Sturken and Cartwright, 2000), and remake after remake has been made, regurgitating past culture in the absence and impossibility of original thought.

Ideology- A set of ideas and ideals that can be deeply ingrained into individual cultures, and considered the ultimate 'truths' by the inhabitants. These internal ideas influence their outlooks, and behavior towards the external world.
In terms of post-modernity, Ideology received by an attitude of 'scepticism' and 'irony', wherein it's ideals are considered unrealistic, and  alongside 'universalism', 'absolute truths', 'grand narratives' and 'objectivity'.

Genre- A category of film, determined by the text's codes and conventions- typically associated to that bracket (i.e. blood, knives, screaming and screeching violins are often associated to  the 'horror genre').

Sherrie Levine- An American photographer and painter, whose work is often subject to conversation in the topic of originality, and appropriation. Her reproductions of prominent photographic works, in a male driven culture, brings attention to the undervalued role of females in Art History.
Prior to this, she'd worked with other artists (Cindy Sherman, Richard Prince, and Sherrie Levine), to photograph existing movie-stills and advertisements, so to expose the fiction of mass-media, and their "codes of representation".
Her work also explores this idea of "desire and loss", and people's "dashed hopes to create meaning, the inability to recapture the past" ('The Met', No Date) in the midst of a post-modern culture.
This intention of art is so typically 'post-modern', that its become, arguably, a hallmark for the death of modernism.

Fig. 5

'Scream'

Five ways 'Scream' is considered 'Post-modern':

1) Intertextuality
'Scream' is abundant in intertextualised references from a scope of slasher genre films. The main ones being that of: 'Psycho' (1960), 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), 'Halloween' (1978), 'Friday the 13th (1980), and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)'- all of whom abide by a set of 'codes and conventions' we, as the audience, expect to see.
Some of these expectations, and narrative structures are evident in 'Scream' also, wherein they are used for humorous and self-aware circumstances. This provides an alternative view on existing culture, wherein the very film itself critiques itself as a medium, and it's fictitious reality, in comparison to the real one.
This very 'post-modern' self-awareness, leads onto....
2) Pastiche
Wherein the film (that appropriates and intertextualises other texts), becomes both a critique of the 'horror slash genre', and a fresh breath of air in the midst of repetitive 'slasher' movie era.
'Scream' cleverly understands and uses genre expectations to joke with us, knowing we're trapped in our set expectations.
An example of which would be the recurring theme of the 'boots'- and how 'Scream' slyly coaxes us to 'figure out' the killer, before 'lamp shading' the issue.
3) Appropriation
Appropriating a purposefully rigid narrative structure, so for it to become it's own subject for discussion. There's an additional meaning/context being built onto the original format, as 'Scream' wittily critiques the 'slasher' craze prior to it's release.
It needs the original 'idea' of the 'slasher movie' for it to work.
4) Irony
Irony is used on multiple occasions, as a unique way -at the time- of playing with out current expectations of horror rules and ideologies (i.e. a group of teenagers who are killed off, one at a time... the virtuous girl will survive at the end of the movie... asking ominous, one-sided questions signals "something terrible is about to happen"- "Whose there?" and "Stop screwing around" etc.).
The humour is in having the character's observe these moments, and have them abide by them anyway (Sidney snapping "Some stupid killer stalking some big-breasted girl who can't act who is always running up the stairs when she should be running out the front door. It's insulting", but being forced to run up stairs 2 minutes later to escape Ghostface).
5) Meta-fiction | Self-Aware
The film recurringly draws us out of immersion, by constantly reminding us it's fictitious.
The film outright refers to itself as a movie. "Sidney: But this is life. This isn't a movie. Billy: Sure it is, Sid, It's all a movie. It's all one great big movie... Only you can pick your genre". Even alluding to the entire 'Scream' franchise: "No, please don't kill me, Mr. Ghostface, I wanna be in the sequel!"
Words like genre, sequel and movie, shows the film recognizing itself for what it is. Entertainment.
Entertainment that sometimes, when in light of reality, may seem at times silly, or illogical.
This post-modern narrative technique allows us, the audience, to draw from our previous experiences of other films and genres, and relate to the story in a more personal way.

The rules of the 'horror slasher' are literally explained by the characters themselves. Randy makes an entire speech about the 'formula' of the film, and yet the irony is in the fact they all abide by it anyway. Them knowing it does nothing to change the outcome of the story.
In Sidneys' last fight with Billy, she shots him before he "comes back to life, for one last scare", but yet still abides by the 'sensible girl always wins' rule.

References
Websites

'aimeelouisasmith', (2016), 'Postmodernism in Scream', [Online]. Available at: https://www.slideshare.net/aimeelouisasmith/postmodernism-in-scream [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
Browne, Caitlin (No Date), 'Post-modernism in Scream', [Online]. Available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/118943227/Postmodernism-in-Scream [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017].
Cambridge Dictionary', (2017), 'Irony', [Online]. Available at: http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/irony [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

'David', (2016), 'The Irony of Postmodernism', [Online]. Available at: https://sites.dwrl.utexas.edu/visualrhetoric/2016/05/06/the-irony-of-postmodernism/ [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

'Shmoop Editorial Team', (2008), 'Irony', [Online]. Available at: https://www.shmoop.com/postmodern-literature/irony-characteristic.html [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
Shugart, Helene A. (2009), 'Postmodern irony as subversive rhetorical strategy', [Online]. Available at: http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10570319909374653?journalCode=rwjc20 [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
'TATE' (No Date), 'Sherrie Levine', [Online]. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sherrie-levine-2753 [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
'The Met' (2017), 'Sherrie Levine | After Walker Evans: 4', [Online]. Available at: https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/267214 [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
Leeuwen, Renske Van (No Date), 'Sherrie Levine', [Online]. Available at: https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/sherrie-levine?all/all/all/all/0 [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
'SparkNotes', (2017), 'Political Ideologies and Styles', [Online]. Available at: http://www.sparknotes.com/us-government-and-politics/political-science/political-ideologies-and-styles/section1.rhtml [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
O'Callaghan, Brogan (No Date), 'Postmodernist technique In the horror films 'Scream' and 'Halloween'', [Online]. Available at: https://broganocallaghan.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/postmodernist-techniques-in-scream-and-halloween/ [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]'Oxford Dictionaries', (2017), 'Ideology', [Online]. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ideology [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
'Oxford Dictionaries', (2017), 'Irony', [Online]. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/irony [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

 'Oxford Dictionaries', (2017), 'Parody', [Online]. Available at: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/parody [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

'TATE', (No Date), 'Avant-Garde', [Online]. Available at: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/art-terms/a/avant-garde [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
'The Art Story Contributors', (2017), Art for Art's Sake Definition Overview and Analysis', [Online]. Available at: http://www.theartstory.org/definition-art-for-art.htm [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
Willette, Jeanne (2012), 'Death of the Avant-Garde', [Online]. Available at: http://arthistoryunstuffed.com/death-of-the-avant-garde/ [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]
Witcombe, Christopher L.C.E. (2000), 'Art for Art's Sake', [Online]. Available at: http://witcombe.sbc.edu/modernism-b/artsake.html [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

'Victoria and Albert Museum', (2016), 'Aestheticism - The Cult of Beauty', [Online]. Available at: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/a/aestheticism/ [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

'York Museums and Gallery Trust', (2017), 'Albert Moore: Of Beauty and Aesthetics', [Online]. Available at: https://www.yorkartgallery.org.uk/exhibition/albert-moore-of-beauty-and-aesthetics/ [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

Videos
'Rowan Ellis', (2015), 'Metafiction Explained (Deadpool, Supernatural, Scream & more', [Online]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EPu99h2mno [Accessed Date: 15/10/2017]

Illustrations
Fig. 1 Degas, Edgar (1881), 'Little Dancer of Fourteen Years', [Sculpture]. Tate Modern: London.  
Fig. 2 Moore, Albert (1892), 'A Revery', [Painting]. York Art Gallery: York. 
Fig. 3 Duchamp, Marcel (1917), 'Fountain', [Photograph]. Available at: 16/10/2017]
https://d7hftxdivxxvm.cloudfront.net/?resize_to=width&src=https%3A%2F%2Fartsy-media-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fi-8Le397-h2ZTgLM1iMegw%252FMarcel_Duchamp.jpg&width=1100&quality=95 [Accessed Date:
Fig. 4 'Disney Merchandise', (2016), [Photograph]. Available at: 16/10/2017]http://az616578.vo.msecnd.net/files/2016/02/27/6359219930041037091000072184_Disney-Merchandise.jpg [Accessed Date: 16/10/2017]
Fig. 5 Cliff, Paul (2014), 'Levine', [Photograph]. Available at: 

https://paulcolincliff.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/levine.jpg [Accessed Date: 16/10/2017]