Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra and Simulation argues that reality has ceased to exist. According to Baudrillard, humans have consistently replaced reality with hyperreality—a space within which everything is commodified and stripped of meaning. He says that the physical world itself has become hyperreal, and reality is absorbed by simulacra and abstraction. However, even in this hyperreality, humans continue to seek meaning, nostalgic for the authentic experiences they have lost. To fill this void, they turn to other consumerism, and even violence.  

Baudrillard’s work was a response to the modernist movement, which emphasized grand narratives and industrialization. He saw the advancement of technology as a movement toward further abstraction and a deviation from concrete reality. Although Baudrillard’s work centers on cultural structures, it is often used in linguistics to understand the relationship between signs and meaning. A sign is usually understood as being composed of a signifier and a signified. In hyperrealities, the relationship between the signifier and signified is broken. Signs become symbolic; they are no longer attached to reality. An example of this can be found in the word “text.