Fragments of Tragedy in Postmodern Film: American Beauty, Fargo, Dogville and Naked In The Light of Tragedy

Tragedy as a form of drama has changed and evolved along with human society. Its continuous chain from Ancient Greece to modern is broken with postmodernism. An integral definition of the ‘postmodern tragedy’ has not yet been theorized. Neither its characteristics nor its way of handling characters were analyzed. ‘Postmodern tragedy’ is a missing link because postmodernism fragmented 'tragedy'. Its fragments spreaded into different media such as the Internet, press, radio, television and film. Especially, the films with themes of chaos, violence, popular culture, paranoia, virtual reality and alienation often used the aspects of tragedy. This work is a discovery of the transformation of tragedy and how its fragments are reflected by postmodern film.