ABSTRACT
It is sometimes suggested that we have over recent decades seen a gradual move towards a new kind of society. For some early writers, this societal shift was theorised and understood as a shift towards what some termed a ‘postmodern’ era. Here, postmodernity (p. 395) can be understood as a shift away from a production-based society towards one based primarily around patterns of consumption, as well as the rise in importance of the mass media. In a postmodern era contemporary culture is seen as characterised by the spectacle, where audiences sit powerless and mesmerised in its consumption. However, as this chapter will explore, some have suggested that the evolution of society has not stood still, and if anything has only gathered pace. Hence, it could be argued that we are witnessing a move towards what could be termed the ‘post-postmodern’ (p. 139), where we see audiences, facilitated by advances in new media technologies, as more participatory, if not a ‘necessary condition of the cultural product’ (Kirby, 2006).
