Simulacra+Con


 * Concept: Simulacrum **

__OED Definition: __ 1. A material image, made as a representation of some deity, person, or thing. 2. a.) Something having merely the form or appearance of a certain thing, without possessing its substance or proper qualities. b). A mere image, a specious imitation or likeness, of something. This concept has evolved over time from the pre-modern period to the industrial revolution of the 19th century to now in the postmodern age. Simulacra has evolved from a clear counterfeit of the real, to a mass produced copy of the real. Now, in the post modern age, representation precedes and determines the real. There is not any distinction between reality and its representation, there is only simulacra (Baudrillard, 1994).

According to Baudrillard (1994) there are four phases of simulacra:
 * 1) It is the reflection of a basic reality
 * 2) It masks and perverts a basic reality
 * 3) It masks the absence of a basic reality
 * 4) It bears no relation to any reality whatever; it is its own pure simulacrum

An example of the four phases of simulacra can be demonstrated by examining the “overly attached girlfriend” meme.

media type="youtube" key="Yh0AhrY9GjA" width="366" height="276" **Productiveness**
 * The first distortion occurred when Laina uploaded a parody of Justin Bieber’s song “Boyfriend.” She mocked the song by changing the lyrics to lines such as “If I was your girlfriend, I’d never let you leave."
 * The second distortion occurred when someone took a still of the video because the still does not necessarily capture the essence of Laina.
 * The third distortion occurred when Reddit and Internet users started adding captions to the still image. The meme masks reality, because to many of the Internet users Laina does not actually exist.
 * The fourth distortion occurs when the meme transforms to the “overly attached boyfriend.” The original meme is transformed to something else that does not relate to the original video.

//Abraham Lincoln as Authentic Reproduction: A Critique of Postmodernism //is an ethnographic attempt by Bruner (1994) to contest the ideas of simulacra by Baudrillard and Eco. Bruner used Illinois’ historical site called Lincoln’s New Salem to study the historical reproduction and efforts toward authenticity made by the professionals who work for the site. After conducting the ethnography, Bruner concludes that the notion of simulacrum is limited in situations like a historical reproduction by not giving credit to the belief that individual meaning found in the representations cannot be predicted before the representation begins. Bruner holds that meaning is generated in a social context, and that while the tourists visiting this representation and re-creation of America are buying into a form of America, they are not buying into a specific copy or simulacrum of America that Baudrillard and Eco talk about in their writings.

Merrin (2001) critiques Baudrillard’s work with simulation and simulacra in his piece //To play with phantoms: Jean Baudrillard and the evil demon of the simulacrum //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. The text itself acknowledges simulacrum as a useful concept, but quickly moves in to declare that Baudrillard himself cannot control the concept or underlying ideas of the notion. Merrin also points out flaws with Baudrillard’s work, noting that there is not a distinction in Baudrillard’s work between an authentic mode of simulation and an alienated mode of simulation. Merrin goes on to discuss Baudrillard’s work in its most vulnerable state:
 * //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“Baudrillard’s ‘nostalgia’, therefore, lies not in his idealization of a mode of relations, but rather in his desire for a critical foundation against the simulacrum, a nostalgia, we might add, that is shared by many of his critics. It is here then that his work is vulnerable, not to a critique based on the real (as this is what he defends), but instead to one based on the simulacrum. Rather than the symbolic functioning as a critical foundation against the simulacrum, the latter reverses this relationship to expose the symbolic as a consciously constructed ground, following a specific intellectual heritage containing its own critical, philosophical project. The simulacrum, therefore, is an efficacious force, ‘ungrounding’ all attempts to domesticate it, installing itself within the heart of every critique, of every merely simulacral foundation – including Baudrillard’s own (p. 103-104). //

//<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Forget Baudrillard //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a essentially a survey of the adoption, adaptation and critiques of Baudrillard’s theoretical concepts. While noting that it is hard to argue that we live in a hyperreality, they take issue with the historical concept of Baudrillard’s argument. They do this by asserting that Baudrillard’s claim that the deflation from the real was a recent development that accompanied the transition from a modern to postmodern society, which implies the world prior to this was an objective reality. This negates the meaning and presence of symbols in our world. In the conclusion the authors argue that:
 * //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">“The dialectic relations real/symbolic and simulacrum/truth are sustainable, but not real/simulacrum. There is little that can be called ‘real’ in the compass of human experience, real in the sense that it absolutely resists symbolic appropriation." //

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In //The Borders of Madness// Katherine Hayles claims that Baudrillard is not completely wrong when he claims we live in an age of simulacra, however the type of simulacra Baudrillard is referring to does not exist without limits. Baudrillard argues Disney World represents a hyperreality or a place where reality is lost among simulacra. In effort to demonstrate how all hyper realities have limits, Hayles points out the various conventions within and surrounding Disney World that serve as reminders to the guest that they are indeed in a fictional story land. For example, Hayles argues the traffic surrounding the park serves as a reminder that you are going to a theme park within the world, not being transported to another reality. Another example is the convention of lines. The fact that individuals have to wait in a line in order to enter the world of Space Mountain serves as a reminder they are indeed entering a world “with boundaries.”

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Relevance** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">We can see that even when it comes to television programming and movies, the concept of simulacrum is limited. If the simulacrum is supposed to be a representation of the real, even in its perverse and masked state, animated shows and movies do not fall into this line of thinking.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Take, for instance, the television show //South Park//. The show itself is not based on any form of reality, and the characters are fictional (minus the celebrity characters that the show features from time to time). While the show’s content and storyline each week may tackle a hot-button current event, the basis of the storyline -- the four boys who live in the town of South Park in Colorado -- is not based on reality.

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">You could also look at shows like //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Star Trek //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, which are based in future realities and cyberspace.

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Following in that same vein, the movie //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WALL-E //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, produced by Disney’s Pixar, lies outside of the limits of simulacrum. The movie is based 700 years in the future and depicts a new reality that is not based on current reality, as is seen in the clip below. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WALL-E //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a robot who is specifically designed to clean up this futuristic version of Earth, which has been abandoned and left covered in waste and trash.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WALL-E video

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Finally, movies like The Chronicles of Narnia and Avatar depict worlds that are fantasy-based and imaginary. In both the literary and film versions of The Chronicles of Narnia, while the children are living in a real world, once they “pass through” the wardrobe they enter the fictitious world of Narnia. Aslan, a lion and the king of Narnia, guides the children through this fantasy world.

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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Similar to both Narnia and //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">WALL-E //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Avatar //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> is a movie that was produced in 2009 and is set in the mid-22nd century in a land called Pandora, which is located in the Alpha Centauri star system. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Avatar //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">focuses on the existence of a tribe called the Na’vi, a race specific to this land of Pandora.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Avatar video

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">**Contingency** <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The concept of simulacra is obviously useful today with the exploration into a mediated society where we all are media creators, however we do not yet live in a society where there are no boundaries or no borders that remind us of reality as we see it and understand it. As Hayles pointed out we will never truly live or exist in a complete hyperreality because there will always be “lines” or “borders” that remind us of reality. A great example of this is nation borders and the various governmental institutions and cultural normalities that exist within country, state and county lines. We cannot exist in a hyperreality that ignores or masks reality if language, governmental and cultural differences exist to remind us of our physical location. Take for example an American individual attending a movie theatre in Spain. While the movie played within the theater is an example of a simulacrum, the language components of the movie and the cultural norms of the theater serve as reminders to the individual of where his or her actual location is. Furthermore we can consider the importance of borders in Spain. The basque people have been fighting for independence from the Spanish government for over 50 years. The only visual thing separating basque country from Spain on a map is a line but for the people the border means much more. For the basque people the line represents a border to where Spanish culture ends and basque culture begins. When engaging in various forms of simulacra, individuals do not forget the essence of their culture or who they are but rather understand the world and the difference between reality and simulacra through the physical reality they live in.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Lastly, the concept of simulacrum is overly broad. By understanding all aspects of the real world and cybernetic world as forms of simulacra we end up with a catch-all theory that is so applicable and relatable to everyday instances that it ends up not being uniquely insightful to any particular phenomena. For example think of the cyberbullying that takes place online. While the bullying occurs online, in a hyperreality the mental effects of bullying on an individual extend to the real world. With this in mind, is it feasible to say that we actually live in a world of simulacra?

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Explore the concepts presented on this page further by visiting this page.
 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Multimedia Component **


 * <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; font-family: Cambria; font-size: 16px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">References: **

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Bruner, E. M. (1994). Abraham Lincoln as authentic reproduction: A critique of postmodernism. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">American Anthropologist, 96 //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(2), 397-415.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Hayles, N. K. (1991). The borders of madness. //<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Science fiction studies //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, 321-323.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Merrin, W. (2001). To play with phantoms: Jean Baudrillard and the evil demon of the simulacrum. //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Economy and Society, 30 //<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">(1), 85-111.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Rojek, C., & Turner, B. S. (Eds.). (1993). //Forget Baudrillard?// Psychology Press.