Timed Essay 4

 4) Long form television dramas lack originality; no matter which country they are made in, they all use intertextuality in the same way.’

How far do you agree with this statement?

Stranger Things and Deutschland 83 both show intertextuality in different ways, creating very different products and therefore audience appeals. Intertextuality in both TV dramas creates more niche audiences due to them being recognisable and identifying with them. 

Stranger Things uses techniques of homage and pastiche intertextuality with some references to ET, The Goonies and other texts. These references come from the 80s, linking the drama to the time period and making it feel more authentic. Creativity in this comes from the intertextuality being modified to create a new product. For example, the reference to ET isn’t explicit and some audiences may recognise it, identify with it and this creates fandom as people feel more connected to the product.

However, the intertextuality is used in a unique way to create new products and a mix of genres. Stranger Things presents a multi-genre series with inspiration from other texts 

Deutschland 83 references are mostly historical due to it being set in the time of the Cold War; the drama is based on real events. This representation of the events is unique as perspectives from both the West and East side is shown in a modern production. However, this could be unoriginal due to the content being inspired from real events and many audiences would know the outcome of the time period, suggesting that the drama is unoriginal.

Postmodernism suggests that nothing is original or new due to the references and copying of previous ideas and texts, lacking in verisimilitude. This could be applied to Stranger Things as it presents postmodern techniques in homage, pastiche and intertextuality. For example, the start of the episode pans down from a starry night sky which is also seen at the beginning of ET. This is a minor reference and may be unnoticeable to people who aren’t familiar with ET, showing how postmodern texts can have originality and creative references.

D83 presents postmodernism ideas through the Cold War references but gives an original and creative narrative structure of the time period. This allows audiences to enjoy the historical references in a different way with alternative perspectives of the East and West. The unusual viewpoint of Martin being from the East shows originality and contrasts the usual West viewpoint. 

Another argument to creativity in intertextuality way be the difference in time periods and release of the text. For example, D83 shows the 80s time period of the Cold War to audiences in 2015, which may have attracted more younger audiences to the topic of the Cold War. The production of this text 30 years after the event provides a less is view of the events due to it being in the past. There is more freedom for producers to create original texts with reference to real events

Stranger Things does this in a similar way due to it being set in the 80s and the release was in 2016, older audiences may recognise the cultural references of the 70s/80s whilst younger Netflix viewers may not be familiar with the references. This shows how the time that texts are made effects the audience response and exposition of knowledge into the references changes how the dramas are perceived.

Postmodern texts may be creatively original with the combination of references and how the inspiration is modified for a new product and audiences. Stranger Things and Deutschland 83 represent texts that have been successful with different forms of  postmodern and intertextual tehcniques.