Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2001 | Page 85
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can be problematic. The complexity and vastness of our society defies simple oneword categorization. Postmodernism, as defined by M. H. Abrams extended the
contratraditional movements in arts and literature of the modern age to the breaking
point where modern works were deemed as conventional and “high arf’ was
devalued in favor of popular art forms. Some postmodernist works celebrated the
“‘meaninglessness’ of existence and the underlying ‘void,’ or ‘nothing ness’ on
which any supposed security is conceived to be precariously suspended” (120).
Susan Bordo proposes various origins of the “postmodern age.” Some posit that
the postmodern era developed as a reaction to the breakdown of the Enlightenment
notions of humanism, rational thought, and beliefs in Truth and Objectivity. Some
cite the failure of a cohesive hegemony of Western culture as the beginning of
postmoderninity. Some discuss the “information explosion” as evidence of the
new era. And some, including Bordo, point to the runaway consumer capitalism of
our present culture as the most visible proof of a postmodern society.
The term “postmodernism” is used in discussions about literature and the arts
in much the same way “poststructuralism” frames conversations about linguistics
and literary theory. Poststructuralists discuss meaning, or meaninglessness, by
exposing “the naively representational theory of language” (Eagleton 124). Because
we are all powerless over the universal influence of language, our agency or our
free will is lessened; in a sense, we are de-centered within the circle of our
experiences. These structures of language have presented society in terms of binary
opposites, of opposing dualities. Poststructuralists reveal these oppositions within
a text or any other cultural artifact and neutralize them by deconstructing the binary
altogether. This process, outlined by Jacques Derrida, suggests that a deconstructive
reader (or viewer) will look for evidence of grammatical or linguistic oppositions—
rich/poor, strong/weak, right/left, man/woman—that conform to culturally accepted
hierarchical relationships which privilege the first term (or signifier) in the duality
while subordinating the second. After exposing the opposition, the hierarchy is
inverted by privileging the second term resulting in a new vision of the
relationship— poor/rich, weak/strong, left/right, and woman/man. The final step
argues for the futility and meaninglessness of structuring binary oppositions in
general by exposing them as ideological and cultural contexts that limit and
marginalize us.
The writers of B ujfy play with discourse of cultural patterns in a way that
deconstructs many of the dualities of contemporary society. A recent episode
(November 23, 1999) is set on Thanksgiving, a cultural tradition rife with ideology.
Buffy wants to re-enact a traditional Thanksgiving celebration with her “family of
friends.” (Like many adolescent narratives, parents figure little in the action
(Donelson and Nilsen). Buffy’s father lives in another city and has only been seen
in a few episodes. Her mother, Joyce (played by Kristine Sutherland), was oblivious