Jean Baudrillard: Hypermarket and Hypercommodity

In this part of the text Baudrillard begins to talk about the change in product

consumption and media messages which has lead to the hyperspace of commodity, referred to as the Hypermarket. This suggests that the objects we possess are no longer commodities, but instead they are something we use to create a social mask; what is expected of us, 'they are tests' that have a control of our lives. The media messages are applicable everywhere. In terms of advertising, Baudrillard implies that it no longer fulfils its sole purpose of communicating and/or informing, but it is in fact a "perpetual test" that ensures you are acting a certain way, or conforming to certain constructs, or codes. Essentially, advertising has ceased to do what was intended of it, and instead has become part of this system, this hypermarket, that controls social order and commodity culture, giving it a whole different type of power socially and communicatively.

In response to the reference of "controlled socialisation", Baudrillard talks about surveillance as a "décor of simulacra", which implies control, and social comfort. We are aware of CCTV, and what it signifies; that we are being watched, giving this allusion to repression because we are restricted to a certain social order. This is evident within the advertising platforms, for example, billboards; by influencing this hyper-commodity, the role being to kept intact the screen we consider our reality. The same with television, essentially you relate and resonate with the advert, and see what you think is expected of you, thus leading you to mirror the consumption of the commodity culture. Baudrillard makes known that the three examples work together in order to form this new notion of what is normal, or expected of the culture, which he feels, "closes this world in on itself".

Baudrillard then goes on to talk about the hypermarket, how it is not just the consumption of products, it is also about social relation and acculturation. The mass media has changed the way we think about things, and now we adopt a new way of living, and accepting the simulacra that is present everywhere. The hypermarket alludes toward the end of modernity, as it's role is  now far more than just "consumption"; advertising uses simulacra that distances the product away from reality, so the "objects no longer have a specific reality there" instead they are used to form the expected social construct. Baudrillard states that between 1890 and 1950, there was an increase of modern stores built in all locations, and this is the fundamental modernisation of the hypermarket and its rise in society. However, as the hypermarket monopolises, it begins to lose quality of the market.

Jean Baudrillard: The Divine Irreference of Images

Baudrillard introduces the concept of reality even in the heading by using the pun, 'Irreference' rather than 'Irreverence', suggesting that images and reality are not on the same level, and reality is in fact on a higher level to images. Something that images cannot portray.


The text begins by defining the difference between absence and presence in terms of dissimulation and simulation. Dissimulation is described as pretending not to have what you do have, which would imply absence. The falseness would be in the absence, as you are disclosing something that you have. Dissimulation holds strong connection to the principle of reality; this suggests that there is a reality, that it can be referred to, represented and distinguished from the artificial and imaginary. Simulation is then the opposite; pretending to have what you don't have. Which would, in turn, imply a presence.  The falsity is in the presence, as you are alluding to some sort reality that isn't real. In the example, in order to feign an illness  you would have to produce symptoms, thus simulating aspects of the real. So for an example of dissimulation, someone with psychosomatic illness actually experiences symptoms of the "real" illness. By producing these 'symptoms', representations or simulations, it can cause assumed presence of reality. This simulation threatens the distinction, as it distances the distinction between true and false, real and imaginary.
To expand upon Baudrillard's reference to simulation within the military, if a man were to feign illness or homosexuality in order to be discharged from the battlefield, would it be distinguished? Say, if the man were to perform a homosexual act and be caught, does that intentional act mean he is homosexual? The simulation destabilises the principle of reality, and of truth as the truth of the principle is submerged.
He goes on to write about the "Simulacrum of divinity", in this, he uses God as an example to show how visual imagery is removed, the presence withdrawn, but the power of the simulacra that fascinates and dominates is not affected. An icon isn't just a symbolic representation of the real; it's a simulation. Iconoclasts destroyed religious iconography as simulacra are capable of erasing God and destroying the truth that they simulate, and they insinuate a detrimental truth that there is no God, but only the images of God – and so by destroying them, you preserve the idea of God. This differs from icon worshippers, who assume God can be manifested in the simulacrum, thus making God disappear behind the representations (dissimulating) the fact that there is nothing behind the image of God.
From a viewpoint of representations, to simulate is to represent falsely; the simulacra pretending to be something it is not - the copy, the image, the clone. However, from the viewpoint of simulation, all representation is nothing but simulation. Therefore there is no escape from the process of simulation. This would lead us to question the power of imagery, as images remove reality and take away the thing that they model. However, opposing thoughts imply the idea that images have a dialectical power, that they mediate reality; making it visible and intelligible. Reality would then be established as equal to the representation; the sign given is equal to that reality, and what is shown.

Baudrillard describes the successive phases of the image:

1. Image as reflection of a profound reality (naive equivalence of representation with divine truth - image incarnates or animates the reality). The image is a good appearance. It represents the sacramental order. No simulation is really suspected, just signification.

2. Image then masks and denatures this reality (false representation - it doesn't or cannot represent truth - it pretends to equivalence). The image is an evil appearance. The awareness that images can lie, can be manipulated.

3. It masks the absence of a profound reality (it covers up the fact that the profound reality - God / Truth / Reality - doesn't exist). It plays at being an appearance. The image as illusion.

4. It bears no relation to reality at all (pure simulacrum). Leaves off the order of appearances and enters the order of simulation.

Eventually all of life takes place within a reality made up entirely of simulacra, a reality in which the images permanently take the place of the originals. Everything becomes a copy, and there is no distinction between what is true and what is false. With reality no longer as reliable as it used to be, nostalgia assumes greater value. The order is reversed between the original reality and its simulation. The simulacra become hyper real, serving as the model for the real.

Visual Culture: Living on the wake of the withering signified.

In this text, Hebdige sheds light on Baudrillard’s theory of Simulacrum, and ever-changing aspects between reality and what is signified. The text explores the theories of two viewpoints, pre-modern and post-modern. Hebdige scrutinizes the work of John Berger, a pre-modern critic that believes a photograph should “’tell’ it’s true story”, concluding that an image should hold an underlying meaning in order to help us understand them – to recover or retrieve truths within the image, allowing them to be signified. And without the story, the image would have no meaning, nor substance. Hebdige then introduces Post-modern theory, and the Second World critics, such as Jean Baudrillard, that oppose the theories of the Pre-modernists, and believe that an image does not need a meaning, and that meaning is in fact, subjective to the viewer. Baudrillard even goes to say that “reality is nothing more than the never knowable sum of all appearances”, that it ‘flickers’, and therefore can never be defined. The text investigates the development of truth and meaning in a modern world, and how a personal and subjective view has begun to distance the connection between image, signs and what is signified. It concludes this by showing how meaning is changing all the time and thus perceptions change, and meaning is lost. This in turn has an affect on what we perceive as reality, as they both change, the connection becomes construed, therefore causing the signified to wither.

The Simile of the Cave

The simile invites us to envision the world as a dark cave, with humans inside, trapped like prisoners. All we know are the shadows on a wall in front of us, and the mumblings from the shadows. And once you escape the cave, it is only you that understands a further experience, others may be swayed, but many will be satisfied with that of the cave.

Plato's Cave is meant to urge everyone to stop settling for an unexplored life. Since Plato believed that human beings could eventually free themselves and head upwards to the real world, the simile's bleakness is really meant to be a somewhat motivational wake-up call, to make people understand how limiting and self-defeating an "unexamined life" can be. It's also meant to remind people that they should be aware of everything. By being a skeptical person, you are able to take everything you encounter in life as an opportunity for scrutiny and self-improvement.

Spirit of Place

My spirit of place is the centre of interest in my home town. Lincoln Cathedral is not only the forefront of Lincoln’s history, but it is the foundation of the city’s historical beauty. The gothic beauty of this building is never-ending and you can find yourself looking at all the small details that play a part of the bigger thing, but all contribute to its beauty. The cathedral has power in its history,  it once held the title of tallest building in the world (for 300 years). I associate more with my identity and what this building shows; strength, celebration, beauty.  The trek up Steep Hill, however painful, is almost like a pilgrimage for city folk to come together; especially during the Christmas period, when there is a famous market that is held over three days; it’s a tradition and an opportunity to really appreciate our city and what we have within it. The city has kept its traditional feel and has a variety of independent shops and stands that all play a part in making our city what it is today.