‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’ by Barbara Kruger
Postmodern features explained
The late 20th century began a “transitional period of changing economic, social and cultural patterns”(Barker 2012: 203) that were established during modernism; the pre-existent late 19th and early 20th century movement. This transitional period can be known as postmodernism. This research paper elaborates on the key features of postmodernism, namely: intertextuality, parody and pastiche with reference to “committed feminist”(Squiers 1995: 58) Barbara Kruger’s work, We Don’t Need Another Hero (1987). This analysis of postmodernist features will be done through investigating the socio-economic and cultural domain that it was produced in.
In an attempt to understand intertextuality, parody and pastiche within postmodernism, it is important to recognise the characteristics of postmodernism itself. Postmodernism “can be viewed as a development of modernism which manifested itself during the first decades of the 20th century”(Emeritus 2007: Online). However postmodernism is not driven by a “systematic theory” or a “comprehensive philosophy”(Kvale 1995: 19), but rather the recognition and understanding of the current culture post-1950’s, that is identified by blurring the traditional boundaries between culture and art, high and low culture, commerce and art, culture and commerce (Barker 2012: 205). Thus postmodernism is a portrayal of interrelated cultural phenomena(Kvale 1995: 19).
In addition, it is through the “cannibalization of styles from past and present”(Barker 2012: 212) that postmodern culture is able to interrelate cultural differences, as the blurring of historical boundaries and the juxtaposition of previously independent signs produce new codes(Barker 2012: 206). Also, incorporating styles from the past and present does not only show the reflective nature of postmodernism but it also introduces the concept that the artist is a “manipulator of signs more than a producer of art objects” (Wood 2004: 22). Thus by calling something postmodernist, it is less about discovering a quality in it (as it has already been discovered) and more about the viewers idea of it, creating a link between the viewer and the world and their relationship to the world(Ward 2003: 13). This concept can be further explained through the postmodernist feature, intertextuality.
Intertextuality refers to the citation of one text within another(Barker 2012: 206), a term coined by Julia Kristeva who further explains that a text is not a “self-contained” or “autonomous” unit, but is produced from other texts(Edgar & Sedgwick 2008: 176). In relation to Barbara Kruger’s work We Don’t Need Another Hero the image and text related to it has a connotative meaning as its relates to one of the 1942 posters by J. Howard Miller named Rosie the Riveter or more well known as We Can Do It! The Rosie the Riveter poster was created during world war two to recruit women to join the work force. Kruger uses the context in which the Rosie the Riveter poster was produced to give her work a stronger meaning. Kruger plays on the idea that the viewer would recognise the relation between how women were seen in the war and how women are seen after the war in order to interpret her work. However postmodernism also suggests that although a postmodern work may be a “critique of [the] origin” it is “not to return to them” (Wood 2004: 28). Thus the work of Barbara Kruger could also be interpreted as another hero is not needed because the war is over and not to be returned too. Therefore suggesting that Kruger’s work is not self-determined and is intertextual, as it references the past to create an awareness in the present (ward:2).
In addition, intertextuality refers to the concept that “there can never be a definitive reading of a text, for each reading generates a new text” (Edgar & Sedgwick 2008: 176). This can be understood through Kruger’s work where the intertextual reference as stated is to the Rosie the Riveter poster and the Rosie the Riveter poster is an intertextual reference of women roles in society and the stylistic way of creating posters and the intertextual reference to that would lead to more “allusions to particular programs and oblique references to other genre conventions and styles”(Barker 2012: 206). Therefore, intertextuality in this context means that a rich understanding of the purpose of Kruger’s work requires an understanding of other texts (Edgar & Sedgwick 2008: 176).
Furthermore, Kristeva also states that “the interpretation a particular reader generates from a text will depend on the recognition of the relationship of the given text to other texts”(Edgar & Sedgwick 2008: 176). Therefore the recognition of Kruger’s work is also determined by the Rosie the Riveter poster as it references the stylistic ways a poster is created; with a picture and a captivating slogan. However Kruger’s work gained more recognition from the fact that viewers would be able to interpret the relationship between her work and the ‘We Can Do It!’ poster as ironic. This concept can be further explained through the postmodern feature, parody.
Parody capitalizes on a set of distinctive qualities in a particular context and “seizes on their idiosyncrasies and eccentricities to produce an imitation which mocks the original”(Jameson 1983: Online). Parody can be further explained through the analysis of Barbara Kruger’s work We Don’t Need Another Hero. We Don’t Need Another Hero is a large-scale photograph of a girl admiringly resting her finger on the arm of a little boy who is clenching his jaw and flexing his right arm muscle(Kalb 2003: 60). Although this image has been stated as an intertextual reference to the Rosie the Riveter poster, it is also a Parody of the 1942 poster. The Rosie the Riveter poster shows a women with a flexed muscle and below it is captioned “We can do it!” which refers to the women of world war two who had to take on the jobs of their husbands and fathers, while they were at war. Thus Kruger’s piece parodies the Rosie the Riveter poster by using the ‘We Don’t Need Another Hero’ caption to insinuate that after the war, the world is back to being governed by a patriarchal system. Kruger does this through the opposite gender flexing a muscle and the caption using the pronoun “we” to refer to the male gender whereas in the Rosie the Riveter poster, “we” was referred to the female gender (Kalb 2003: 61).
In addition, Kruger makes compositions of images that contain the properties of crudeness and anonymity of their subjects (Heron & Williams 1996: 318) and diverts the meaning from the original one, this postmodernist technique of taking textual fragments that already exist and modifying them so that the original meaning is different from the one they covey(Barker 2012: 209) is known as bricolage. However Kruger not only uses bricolage in her work but also the postmodernist technique of culture jamming. Culture Jammers attempt to “subvert the semiotics of the media by transforming the message into its own anti-message”(Barker 2012: 209). Thus this can be seen in Kruger’s work where the image of the girl admiring the boy flex was not intended to insinuate male dominance but rather a loving, humorous relationship between a brother and sister that would be seen on an advertisement for household needs. Thus, Kruger’s work is often “made to double back themselves”(Heron & Williams 1996: 318).
Furthermore, parody is seen in Kruger’s work with regard to the locations Kruger chooses to portray her work. Kruger often portrays her work in billboard locations “where messages about money and power were regularly delivered” (Kalb 2003: 60). Kruger purposefully sets her work up in these locations in an attempt to challenge the advertisements around her(Kalb 2003: 60). The billboards around Kruger’s work We Don’t Need Another Hero might have been advertising a well known movie and their lead actor of the 1980’s or an enticing consumer good. However Kruger’s message was both apropos and outgunned(Kalb 2003: 60). Therefore, Kruger’s stylistic techniques also lead to the success of her work. This can be further explained through the postmodern feature, pastiche.
Pastiche refers to the “mannerisms and stylistic twitches of other styles”(Jameson 1983: Online). This is seen in the work of Barbara Kruger, who has an “unmistakable style”(Weidemann & Larass & Klier 2008: 124), using short but captivating slogans in Futura Bold Italic reversed-out in red, against enlarged low resolution black and white photos(Weidemann & Larass & Klier 2008: 124). Kruger’s mixture of typography and photographs is influenced by her background in “graphics and commercial art” (Taylor 2004: 99). Drawing on her own experience with Conde’ Nast magazines, Kruger uses the stylistic techniques used in magazine culture in order to relate to the current culture by creating something that would be stylistically recognisable. However Kruger’s integration of typography and photographs is not only influenced by her background in design but also by Russian constructivist posters, like the ones designed by the Sternberg brothers in the mid-1920’s (Edward 1977: 466). Kruger’s work references Russian constructivist posters as what she offers is a “similar form of agitprop, but now backed by resources of modern technology which were not available to the Sternberg brothers, the effect of her work is strident, but undoubtedly highly effective”(Edward 1977: 466).
In addition, the use of pastiche is seen in Barbara Kruger’s work through her carefully planned use of space to portray her work. Kruger’s work is known to be on a very large scale, however Kruger is also known for “treat[ing] space as a relationship and then enunciat[ing] the mechanisms with it”(Kalb 2003: 60). Kruger uses stylistic techniques seen in the work of American photographer, Sherrie Levine who changed the ‘neutral’ atmosphere of the art museum from “a space of passive reception into one of active critique”(Kalb 2003: 60). Thus in the same way Kruger “appropriated the means of the advertiser to expose the politics of urban space” (Kalb 2003: 60).
Furthermore, Postmodern practice is more about the social and cultural world of which it is part of rather than the “hermetic enclave of aesthetic self-referencing (art about art , photography about photography)”(Heron & Williams 1996: 315). Therefore another aspect of pastiche is seen in the work of Kruger when one analyses her use of photographs. Barbara Kruger’s image in ‘we don’t need another hero’ reflects an idea of an image one can affiliate with the American dream (two smiling children in one household) and it resembles an advertisement for soap or cereal(Kalb 2003: 60).Thus the use of “found images”(Heron & Williams 1996: 318) allows for the text to aggressively demand attention (Weidemann & Larass & Klier 2008: 124). The images form part of the background removing the importance of identity of the children and the quality of the image as “the intension of such work is less about provoking feeling , than provoking thought”(Heron & Williams 1996: 315).Thus in Kruger’s work she is able to separate the identity of the children from their photographs and replace it with “pronouns such as ‘you’ and ‘we’ to force the viewer into the role of either accuser or accused”(Kalb 2003: 61).Furthermore, within the context of the work We Don’t Need Another Hero the boy flexing his muscle would be the accuser and the girl would be the accused.Therefore Kruger uses pastiche in her imagery by referencing the use of found imagery(Heron & Williams 1996: 318).
Therefore, the use of intertextuality, parody and pastiche can clearly be seen in the work of Barbara Kruger’s piece, We Don’t Need Another Hero. However it is seen through the investigation of this essay that parody is the most prominent feature within the socio-economic and cultural domain of postmodernism as it shows relations towards consumer culture. Socio-economically, this is done by challenging advertisers through using their space to broadcast the art; while culture is parodied through culture jamming and through referencing the underlying patriarchal system.
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