Juan Rulfos Short Stories - Book Report/Review Example

Download file to see previous pages There are other definitions of the term that include "The simulation of something which never really existed." (Baudrillard) "The authentic fake." (Eco). These definitions are provided from hyperreality philosophers and can be compared with the definition of reality to clearly observe the divergence into hyperreality. As a result, a disparity as to what reality is surfaces. This is because the
conventional and somewhat predictable definitions of reality "represent a larger problem in the attempt to locate the real on the most basic level, for they are wholly circular, a set of signifiers reflecting back at each other lacking the grounding necessary to render meaning. " (Delueze, 1990 p286) Virilio points out that "this problem is not unique to the word 'reality,' indeed almost all words and signs are only able to refer back towards the internal exchange of other signs in order to produce a theoretical anchor." p 981991)
The slippage of reality, its "elusiveness encountered even in a basic search for a definition, is an element of the hyperreal - a condition in which the distinction between the 'real' and the imaginary implodes" p 818 Nealon, 1998) Taking all of this into account about reality and the definitions and the concepts that encompass it is significant to keep in mind that there is not a
standing or an and unchanging definition of hyperreality. There are many different interpretations employed by theorists vary on some of the most essential terms. In reality, it is significant to understand that a common understanding of hyperreality does exist although it changes a little from theorist to theorist. A general understanding of hyperreality is important for it is an issue at the crux of several critical debates within the study of media including semiotics, objects and space, the spectacle, performativity, the examination of mass media, Platonism, resistance, and the structure of reality. "(Nealon, p 7311998)
Hyperrealism can be thought of as an indicator of postmodern culture. Hyperreality does not "exist" or "not exist." It simply is a way of describing the information to which the consciousness is subject. (Baudrillard,)Almost all of the characteristics of hyperreality can be thought of as "reality by proxy." Baudrillard in particular suggests that the world we live in has been replaced by a copy world, were we seek simulated stimuli and nothing more.
Baudrillard borrows the example of a society whose cartographers create a map so detailed that it covers the very things it was designed to represent. When the empire declines, the map fades into the landscape and there is neither the representation or the real remaining - just the hyperreal. Baudrillard's idea of hyperreality was heavily influenced by phenomenology, semiotics, and Marshall McLuhan.





Consumer objects have a sign exchange value, which means that they indicate something about the owner in the context of a social system (see Baudrillard). For example, a king who wears a crown uses the crown as a sign to indicate that he is king. (Debord 1978)
Essentially, sign exchange values have no inherent meaning or value beyond what is agreed upon. As sign exchange values become more numerous, interaction becomes increasingly based upon things ...Download file to see next pagesRead More