TECHNO POSTMODERNISM Finally, I want to briefly discuss the relation between techno music and postmodernism. Many of the key hypotheses presented by postmodernist theorists (such as Paul Virilio, Jean-Fran¨ois Lyotard and Jean Baudrillard) might fit well to the strategies of techno music. On the other hand, however, the connections proposed between techno and postmodernism have been pretty poorly argued so far. Still, it is natural to see techno and rave culture at least as a concrete example of Arthur Kroker's concept of "postmodern panic". Also, I would like to see the connection between techno "lyrics" and the so called "sentence poetry" that become better known in the postmodernist poetry in the 80's.
Techno culture also brings into my mind Guy Debord's theories of "the society of the spectacle" and the whole Situationists' movement of the 60's. In fact, British techno journalist and expert Helen Mead has proposed that the strategies of rave culture are very similar to those of Situationisis' movement. Mead calls these strategies as "Do it Yourself" strategies - a kind of a combination of Situationists' de tournament and the way computer hackers work. In addition, perhaps even the concept of bricolage, much used in the 80's in the context of pop postmodenism, could be linked to the "techno rebels" of our age. I would also like to say that it is easy - perhaps even too easy - to link techno and rave culture to the developments of cyberpunk phenomenon but of course we can see some thematic links between these two fields of popular culture.
As a conclusion, summa summarum: In my opinion, despite some of its degenerated elements techno music seems to be a natural choice of music for a generation being born in the age of micro computers, Nintendo video games and Terminator movies. Techno reflects the needs, hopes, fears and nausea of current youth. Therefore, it could perhaps be music for Timothy Leary's "techno pagans", - it could be music for Fraser Clark's "zippies", - it could be music for Japanese Internet "otakus"; - or it could even be music for Douglas Coupland's definition of "Generation X": a whole generation without clear, definitive values or methods of how to survive in life.
Or perhaps all this is too sublime - too mythological. Perhaps techno is simply the clinical, technical sound of a binary machine.
Originally By: Sam Inkinen |
