Excerpt via Essay:
Giddens thinks “the ‘rules’ of social order may only be ‘in our heads’ – they may be not usually written straight down, and often don’t have any formal power to back again them up – however, people may be shocked when seemingly slight social anticipations are not adhered to” (Gauntlett 2001, s. 2). Pertaining to Giddens, while language and symbols may be manipulated, individuals are still strengthened to change all of them – there is not any utter subsuming of the genuine by icons because of our ability to end up being conscious of ‘the rules’ in the social purchase.
Baudrillard offers an explanation of why things seem ‘less real’ in the postmodern present, but Giddens denies that ‘we’ are in a condition of postmodern reality whatsoever. Tradition may be dead, Giddens states, although we have merely replaced that with a new, post-traditional culture. We now have not eliminated ‘beyond’ culture as Baudrillard suggests, as well as the postmodern like of pastiche and parody is merely a manifestation of your present-day tradition: “it’s inappropriate to call it post-modernity. is actually just modern quality with alarms on” (Gauntlett 2001, g. 3).
Baudrillard’s philosophy was said to be highly influential in generating the script pertaining to the movie the Matrix, exactly where individuals reside in worlds developed by their thoughts, effectively surviving in a world of simulacra. The Matrix has in turn been said to reveal the Internet age, whereby avatars and sms rather than ‘real people’ and words master communication. Therefore it is intuitively tempting to side with Baudrillard in the debate over whether postmodernism is very the end of culture, plus the take over of simulacra in the real. Yet , in a reaction to the prominence of virtual realities, there is also a great deal of push-back that shows Giddens’ opinion that we will be in control of the west and not merely held hostage to symbols, and that we basically create new cultures and they are not heading beyond traditions at all. Persons attempting to find ‘really meaningful’ careers and idealistic political hobbies, going back to the land to make a greener and even more sustainable future, or simply ‘deleting’ their Fb accounts almost all support Giddens’ contention that the death of reality have been prematurely declared, and we will be entering a brand new post-traditional cultural cycle.
References
Felluga, Dino. (2002). Definition: Simulacra. Initial guide to essential theory. Purdue University. Gathered April up to 29, 2010
http://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/engl/theory/postmodernism/terms/simulacrum.html
Felluga, Dino. (2002). Quests on Baudrillard: On postmodernity. Introductory tips for critical theory. Purdue College or university. Retrieved April 29, 2010
http://www.purdue.edu/guidetotheory/postmodernism/modules/baudrillardpostmodernity.html
Gauntlett, David. (2002). Anthony Giddens. Retrieved April 29, 2010
http://www.theory.org.uk/giddens.htm
