Post Modernism

In our blue CPTC book, chapter 9, Postmodernism is discussed in many different ways. Jean-Francois Lyotard describes postmodernism as "the collapse of all metanarratives with their privilidged truth to tell....[and insistence] on difference, on cultural diversity, and the claims of heterogeneity over homogeneity." (pg.185). For Jean Baudrillard, "postmodernism is not simply the culture of the sign: rather it is a culture of the 'simulacrum'"(pg.187). Those are just two of the views of two recognized theorists concerned with postmodernism. But, as we have already covered most of this information in class, I will talk about the global postmodern and convergence culture. Postmodernism as globalization, in the "dominant" view, is basically global Americanized culture. Now while there are many arguments against this position on globalization, I find in very interesting in that I have seen many examples of it all around the world. While in Spain this summer, not only are there many McDonald's, but also a large amount of Starbucks, and not only in the main cities like Madrid and Barcelona, but also in the lesser known cities like Alicante. And while I understand that these chains and such are simply popular and therefore bound to expand, I still see these examples as an intrusion of American culture. One more feature of postmodernism that i find interesting is convergence culture, which is "the flow of media content across a range of different platforms" (pg.210). The book talks of how media convergance culture has three different aspects. One being producers owning a different range of platforms and thus using all of them to promote their product, two, how technology has created new platforms for media, and three, is consumer selection of platforms. An example of the second aspect is this youtube video displaying the numerous platforms an iphone has. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lfmlKYZ-vU So, to refer back to globalization, do you think globalization of american culture is simply the spread of successful American chains and such, or in fact, the intrusion of American culture?