Kelly Anderson
English 378. Fall 2010.
Post-structuralism 2
Simulacrum: Baudrillard uses the term to refer to a representation of reality in the place of a
nonexistence of an original reality, only a perceived one. This concept is based on no truths or
reality; simply it is the application of human experience decided by nothing more than a process
of knowledge and perception. For example, the concept of freedom based on how masses
defined their own experience. The simulacrum only existed because of the opposition to control,
which in turn was a manifestation of the lack thereof.
Hyperreal: a construction of truths holding its basis in neither imagination nor reality, simply an
application of a concept of real with endless duplication. Something existing between reality and
fabrication. Reality based on consciousness, like a symbol of perfection where none exists yet is
believed to be achievable: Gatorade’s endless marketing as a drink for powerful he-men founded
on nothing more than those who decide to market the product as an accessory to health, fitness
and strength. Purely operational.
Simulation: current state of the concept of reality, not a copy or double, but a sign in a current
state of perceived truth. A manifestation of a simulacrum that is operational and functional in
society and becomes a representation of a collective truth in the absence of imagination. An
image that is conceived only in opposition to a lack of the opposite. Like the idea that the
Internet reflects reality because TV fabricates it. Presence and absence.
Dissimulation: a concealing of truths, as opposed to simulation where truths are non-existent
until socially and consciously regarded as such, dissimulation is a masked truth, representative of
false realities. For example, scandals like Enron and Halliburton that were backed by
government officials who are supposed to represent the justice and valiance of our country.
Jean Baudrillard. “Simulacra and Simulations.”
Which word is Baudrillard most interested in questioning:
“Real,” in the introduction it states, “simulacral signs fabricate reality based on media
representations.”
How many phases of the image are mentioned in the second section?
4: image/copy, perversion of image, absence of reality, simulation
Complete the following sentence from the section titled “The Divine Irreference of Images”:
“When the real is no longer what it used to be, nostalgia assumes its full meaning.”
Complete the following phrase from the second paragraph: “Simulation…is the generation of
models of a real without origin or reality.”
Deleuze and Guattari. From A Thousand Plateaus.
Deleuze and Guattari refer to a “rhizome.” What literally is a rhizome?
“the root of a plant that travels laterally underground and proliferates unpredictability.”
True or false. Deleuze and Guattari refer to nomads.
True. “The nomads invented a war machine in opposition to the State apparatus.”
Towards the end of the essay, which traditional discipline is described as “sedentary”?
History, armies, fortification
Write three of your own adjectives to describe the writing style of Deleuze and Guattari.
Playful, confusing and radical
James Joyce. From Finnegan’s Wake
What time and river are referenced in line four?
“What age is at? Is saon is late? ‘Tis endless now senne…”
- soon and late
- the river Saone in France
Name another river that gets punned?
“Senne”, a river in Belgium, or a pun on “since”
Thomas Pynchon. From The Crying of Lot 49.
What is the heroine’s name?
Mrs. Oedipa Maas
What job did the heroine’s husband used to have?
He used to work in a used car lot and then became a DJ for KCUF in Kinneret