Simulacra and Simulation

Jean Baudrillard

Translated by Sheila Glaser

The first full-length translation in English of an essential work of postmodernist thought

Description

Series

The Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism

The first full-length translation in English of an essential work of postmodernism.

The publication of Simulacra et Simulation in 1981 marked Jean Baudrillard's first important step toward theorizing the postmodern. Moving away from the Marxist/Freudian approaches that had concerned him earlier, Baudrillard developed in this book a theory of contemporary culture that relies on displacing economic notions of cultural production with notions of cultural expenditure.

Baudrillard uses the concepts of the simulacra—the copy without an original—and simulation. These terms are crucial to an understanding of the postmodern, to the extent that they address the concept of mass reproduction and reproduceability that characterizes our electronic media culture.

Baudrillard's book represents a unique and original effort to rethink cultural theory from the perspective of a new concept of cultural materialism, one that radically redefines postmodern formulations of the body.

Translator Sheila Glaser is an editor at Artforum magazine.

Praise / Awards

"Simulacra and Simulation is arguably Baudrillard's most important book. In it he moves from a theory of consumer society governed by a 'code' to a general theory of culture that problematizes 'reality.' His idea of the hyperreal informs most discussions."
—Mark Poster, University of California, Irvine
"Baudrillard's studies in simulacra and simulation are among his most important work, particularly as they pertain to his concept of postmodernity and analyses of postmodern culture. The English translation of these essays is therefore very welcome."
—Douglas Kellner, University of Texas, Austin
". . . a very accessible introduction to [Baudrillard's] thought."
—The Year's Work in Critical and Cultural Theory

Look Inside

Contents

The Precession of Simulacra     I
History: A Retro Scenario     43
Holocaust     49
The China Syndrome     53
Apocalypse Now     59
The Beaubourg Effect: Implosion and Deterrence     61
Hypermarket and Hypercommodity     75
The Implosion of Meaning in the Media     79
Absolute Advertising, Ground-Zero Advertising     87
Clone Story     95
Holograms     105
Crash     111
Simulacra and Science Fiction     121
The Animals: Territory and Metamorphoses     129
The Remainder    143
The Spiraling Cadaver     149
Value's Last Tango     155
On Nihilism     159