hyper reality

HyperrealityandCyberspaceAndraKeay:ARIN6902:Internet&GovernanceIntheintroductionto“TheGovernanceofCyberspace”,BrianLoadersummarisesthekeyconceptsofpostmodernism'toconsidertheideathatcyberspaceisinsomesenseamanifestationofthepost‐modernworld:adomainwherepost‐modernculturaltheoriesfusewiththepost‐industrialinformationsocietythesis'.(1997)JeanBaudrillard,1929‐2007,aFrenchsocialtheoristandphilosopher,saidthatrealitywaschangingasaresultofconsumercultureandchanginginformation&communicationtechnologies.Baudrillardcalledthisemergingculture‘hyperreality’,where‘theworldofface‐to‐facewasbecomingtheworldofthe‘interface’’(Poster,1998).Everythingisatoncerealandasimulationorcopyofreality,oracopyofacopyofacopy,untilreality,oratleastthesubject,isseducedintoitsimagesJorgeLuisBorges’fable(copiedfromLewisCarroll)tellsofthecartographerorderedtoproduceatrulyaccuratemap,whichneededtobesolargethatitcoveredtheentireempire.Asaresult,theempirefadedandcrumbledwhilethemapitselfrottedintothelandscape.Finally,thefragmentsofmapnolongerrepresenttheempirebutareallthatremainoftheempire.ThisillustratesBaudrillard’s‘precessionofsimulacra’,whichculminatesinhyperreality,where‘henceforthitisthemapwhichprecedestheterritory’(Baudrillard&Poster,1998).

Postmodernism,PoststructuralismandPoliticalEconomy Postmodernismisabroadtermcoveringartandaesthetics,culturaltheory,philosophyandlife,withmanycontradictoryreadings.Itiswheretruthiscreatedratherthandiscovered.Baudrillard,a‘highpriestofpostmodernism’,marriedpoststructuralismwithpoliticaleconomyinhisworksonthesemiologicalanalysisofconsumersociety.Poststructuralismpositsthatsubjectivityisproducedbylanguage,socialinstitutionsandculturalformsandcannotbeindependentofitsconstruction.BaudrillardwasheavilyinfluencedbythesemiologicalapproachofBarthes,LefebvreandSaussure,andthecriticaltheoryoftheFrankfurtSchool.BaudrillardstartedwithaMarxianperspectivebutendeduparguingthatpostmodernismwasthebreakingawayfromcapitalismandthereforeMarxismaswell,which,heasserts,existsonlyinrelationtocapitalism.MarshallMcLuhanwastheothergreatinfluenceonBaudrillard.Fromhisearliestworks“TheSystemofObjects”and“TheConsumerSociety”,BaudrillardfocusedontheareasthatMcLuhanextolledin“UnderstandingMedia”andthattheFrankfurtSchoolhaddisdained,notablytheincreasingimportanceofmediainsociety.Inretrospect,allofBaudrillard’sworkhashadathemeoftechnologicaldeterminismwheretheobjectdominatesthesubjectandtheindividualinapostmodernworldbecomes‘merelyanentityinfluencedbymedia,technologicalexperience,andthehyperreal’(Kellner,2009).ForBaudrillardandtheFrankfurtSchoolthis‘reification’,orprocesswherebyhumanbeingsaredominatedbythingsandbecomemore‘thing‐like’themselves,controlssociallife.AndforBaudrillardandMcLuhan,themediaandcommunicationtechnologiesarethekeyshapersofthisreification.

HyperrealityandSimulacraIn hyperreality, technology has replaced capital and ‘semiurgy’, the production of signs, has replaced production. Simulations and the play of signs are the constituents of postmodern society, rather than capitalist production and Marxist class conflict. Everything is governed by the mode of simulation, by the use of codes and signs determining consumption, politics culture and life. For Baudrillard, hyperreality is the only possible outcome of capitalism, which created ‘exchange value’ out of every ‘use value’, thus abstracting reality into a commodity, which could then be traded in signs, ‘accelerating the play of simulation’ (1994) Disneyland and Las Vegas are classic examples of hyperreality used by both Baudrillard and Umberto Eco. However, it is not simply the commodification of playful environments that simulate reality, Baudrillard also describes Watergate as, ‘Same scenario as Disneyland (an imaginary effect concealing that reality no more exists outside than inside the bounds of the art)ficial perimeter).’ (1994). For Baudrillard, the ‘precession of simulacra’ exemplifies the final stage of the transition from the premodern society based on symbolic exchange and need; through the modern or productivist society which commodifies need and in which everything has a use or exchange value (production and consumption of commodities); to the postmodern society which exchanges sign-values, where everything can be sold and alienation is ubiquitous.

Simulation is of a different order to dissimulation explains Baudrillard. One is lying to conceal, it is a lack, whereas simulation is reproducing and therefore creates something. A simulated illness reproduces the symptoms of illness and therefore is real enough in some ways. Baudrillard saw the postmodern condition of hyperreality where the difference between real and simulation has collapsed as a moebius strip of circular referentiality. “It is the generation by models of a real without origin or reality: a hyperreal.” (Baudrillard, 1994)

M.C.Escher

TheGovernanceofCyberspace Loader'sconcernishowthe'cyberspace',madepossiblebytheinternetandunderlyingadvancesininformationandcommunicationtechnology,haschangedourpreviouslymodernistgovernance,economically,politicallyandculturally. Iscyberspacehyperreal?Certainlyitis,ifyoufollowBaudrillard’slogic.Hyperrealityisineveryexchangeofsignsorsimulacrathroughanymediainthebroadestofsenses,notjustthedazzlingtext/imagesofconsumption,mediaandadvertizing.MargaretMorsewrote“AnOntologyofEverydayDistraction”aboutthehyperrealityor‘nonspace’ofmalls,freewaysandtelevision.(1990)Loaderhasfailedtobeclearhere,justlikethecyberenthusiastshedecriesearlier.“Theverydiscourseofthoseproselytisingaboutcyberspacecanoftenbemistakenforakindofexhortationtoenteralternativerealityfreedfromtheencumbrancesofadecayingand

discreditedlatemodernistsociety(Rheingold,1991).Suchlinguisticreverberatingbetweenthefutureandpresentoftenmakesitdifficulttodistinguishbetweenwhatisbeingclaimedforcurrentbehavioralpracticeandwhatisprophesyforafutureasyetunrealized.”(Loader,1997)Loaderpositsthathyperrealitymeansinternetgovernance‘boundupwiththecreation,maintenanceandcontestabilityofthemetaphors,icons,symbolsandmoreswhichinfluencetheconductofcomputermediatedcommunication’.ThisshouldextendbeyondasuperficialreadingofWindowsicons,theconfusionofsignsandsymbols;farbeyondtheveneerofCMCintotheinfrastructureandownershipofthecyberspace,ashyperrealityandthedisappearingsubjectaffectsallgovernance.Theinternetdoesnotpipehyperrealityintoourlives.Itcannotbeswitchedoff,orexited.Baudrillard’s‘code’nowgovernsall.LoaderreferstoKevinRobinscritiqueofBaudrillard,thatvisionslikeBaudrillard’sarepsychotic,outoftouchwithindependentrealityandunabletorecognizethesocialrelationsofdependencyandresponsibility.IndeedintheEcstasyofCommunication,Baudrillardusesthetermecstasytomeantheliberationofeffectsfromcauses,similartoLyotard’s‘povertyofthepostmodernsublime’.In“EcstasyofCommunication”,Baudrillarddescribestheinteriorofacarorcomputerormallunfoldinglikeatelevisedscreen,asimulation.Nolongera‘Westernwindow’ontorealitybutthetelevisedinteriorofthehumanmind.Cyberspaceisineveryplace,notpsychoticbutschizophrenic.WhileDeleuze‐Guattaridirectlycorrelatesschizophreniawithcapitalism,forBaudrillardandJameson,postmodernityismoreabout‘theseepingthroughofschizophreniaintocapitalism’.(Fisher,n.d.)“Ifhysteriawasthepathologyoftheexacerbatedstagingofthesubject,apathologyofexpression,ofthebody’stheatricalandoperaticconversion;andifparanoiawasthepathologyoforganization,ofthestructurationofarigidandjealousworld,withcommunicationandinformation,withtheimmanentpromiscuityofallthesenetworks,withtheircontinualconnections,wearenowinanewformofschizophrenia.”(Baudrillard,1983)Baudrillardfindsanescapefromthecircularreferentialityofthelostsubject,andtheseparationofcauseandeffectheissooftencriticizedfor,weavinghiswaythroughallthecontradictionsin“ThePerfectCrime”,whereheadmitsthattracesoftherealandthesubjectarealwaysleftbehind.Baudrillardalsosaysthatnatureisobsceneandthatittakesthehighestlevelsofartificetorevealthingsastheyare.AsTemenugaTrifonovadescribesit,“Contrarytocommonsense,themorewemanipulatethings(throughartifice),themoretheybecomepureexpressionsratherthanrepresentations.Nature,insofarasitistheconstantengenderingofthesamebythesame‘thenaturalconfusionofthings’isalreadyvirtual.Artificeisouronlyresistanceagainstnature’sinherentobscenity.”(2003)WhilethismayexplainLoader’sdifficultyinapplyingpostmoderntheoriestogovernance,Baudrillarddoessuggeststrengthsandweaknessesincurrentpoliticalorsocialanalysis.MarkPoster,Baudrillard’seditor,saysinresponse,“TheconcurrentspreadofthehyperrealthroughthemediaandthecollapseofliberalandMarxistpoliticsasthemasternarratives,deprivestherationalsubjectofitsprivilegedaccesstotruth.Inanimportantsenseindividualsarenolongercitizens,eagertomaximisetheircivilrights,norproletarians,anticipatingtheonsetofcommunism.Theyareratherconsumers,andhencethepreyofobjectsasdefinedbythecode.”(1998)

ConclusionsIn‘DigitalNation’,DouglasRushkoffsaysthat‘theinternethaschangedfromathingonedoes,toawaywelive’.(2010)In‘TheGovernanceofCyberspace’Loaderaskswhatnewformsofgovernancewilltheinternetcreate,giventhetechnologicaldeterminismofmostliteratureontheeconomicandsocialrestructuringofadvancedcapitalistsocieties.(1997)AsJohnPottssaysinFibreculture(JournalIssue12),“Everytimeitisclaimedthatdigitalmediahavealteredknowledge,communicationorsocialinteraction–forthebetterorfortheworse–someformofmediumtheory,includingadegreeoftechnologicaldeterminism–is(usuallyunwittingly)invoked.”Forexample,Pottscontinues,themobilephonehaschangedsocialinteractionorthatdigitalnetworkinghasforgednewordersofcommunity.(2008)Pottsseesareinvigorated‘mediumtheory’asthesynthesisoftheopposingpositions,technologicaldeterminismasrepresentedbyMcLuhanandBaudrillardandsocialdeterminismasrepresentedbyRaymondWilliams,whocritiques‘themediumisthemessage’assuchareductiveformalismthatallothercausesapartfromthemedium‐‘allthatmenordinarilyseeashistory’–arereducedtomere‘effects’(1975).Latour’sActor‐NetworkTheoryandZizek’sTranscendentalMaterialismarealsoaimingforthemiddlegroundbetweenmediacentricandsocio‐economictheories,attemptingtogiveequalweighttoboth.AsBrunoLatourobserves,apolemical‘socialdeterminism’arguing,forexample,thatthesteamenginewasthe‘merereflection’of‘Englishcapitalism’,isnolessextremeandone‐sidedaviewasthetechnologicaldeterminismitseekstocontest(2005). ANThoweverrisksflatteningbothhumanandtechnologicalagencytotheassociationornetwork,creatingacirculatingpowerflow,notunlikeagreatmachine.Whichreturnsusfinallyto‘hyperreality’andthethirdorderofsimulacra,thepointatwhichBaudrillard,Deleuze‐GuattariandJamesonallrecognizeadvancedcapitalismasacyberneticsystem,anadaptive,self‐compensatingsystem(Fishern.d.).Deleuzefurtherdescribesoursubjectionandthesimultaneousreinforcementandnourishmentofsubjectionin‘ControlSocieties’.Baudrillarddescribesaworldwhereresistanceand‘criticism’aresupersededstrategiesthatareeasilyfedbackintothesystem,whichindeedrequiresthem.Weliveinareferendummode,whichsubstitutesforpublicopinionorrepresentation.“Cyberneticcontrol,generationthroughmodels,differentialmodulation,feedback,question/answer,etc.:thisisthenewoperationalconfiguration.”(Baudrillard1993) Baudrillardcouldbeusedtoinforminternetgovernanceinidentitypolitics,homogeneity,thecommodificationofknowledge,theownershipoftheinfrastructureandthebrandingofinformation.However,heprovestoodiffuseformostanalysis.Inessence,Baudrillard’shyperrealityisnotamapatall,butaparticipativeprocessthatmayshapeus,ormayallowustoshapeoursurrounds.Thereisnoothercontroller.Governanceisourownhandsbutissettomassagendas.Thecyberneticloophasclosedonpostcapitalistsocietyandcyberspace.

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BayPress.Baudrillard,Jean(1993),SymbolicExchangeandDeath,London:Sage.Baudrillard,Jean(1994),SimulacraandSimulation,AnnArbor:TheUniversityofMichiganPress.Fisher,Mark(n.d.).FlatlineConstructs2.6FromNarcissismtoSchizophrenia.Transmat.Onlinejournal,.

RetrievedMarch19,2010fromhttp://www.cinestatic.com/trans‐mat/Fisher/FC2s6.htmKellner,Douglas,"JeanBaudrillard",TheStanfordEncyclopediaofPhilosophy(Winter2009Edition),EdwardN.

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MajorTheoreticalWorksbyBaudrillard:• 1996c [1968], The System of Objects, London: Verso. • 1998 [1970], The Consumer Society, Paris: Gallimard. • 1975 [1973], The Mirror of Production, St. Louis: Telos Press. • 1981 [1973], For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign, St. Louis: Telos Press. • 1983a, Simulations, New York: Semiotext(e). • 1983b, In the Shadow of the Silent Majorities, New York: Semiotext(e). • 1983c, “The Ecstacy of Communication,” in The Anti-Aesthetic, Hal Foster (ed.), Washington: Bay Press. • 1988, America, London: Verso. • 1990a, Cool Memories, London: Verso. • 1990b, Fatal Strategies, New York: Semiotext(e). • 1993a, Symbolic Exchange and Death, London: Sage. • 1993b, The Transparency of Evil, London: Verso. • 1994a, Simulacra and Simulation, Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. • 1994b, The Illusion of the End, Oxford: Polity Press.

• 1995, The Gulf War Did Not Take Place, P. Patton (trans.), Sydney: Power Publications, and Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

• 1996a, Cool Memories II, Oxford: Polity Press. • 1996b, The Perfect Crime, London and New York: Verso Books. • 1997, Fragments: Cool Memories III, 1990-1995, London and New York: Verso Books. • 2000, The Vital Illusion, New York: Columbia University Press. • 2001, Impossible Exchange (2001). London: Verso. • 2002a, The Spirit of Terrorism: And Requiem for the Twin Towers, London: Verso. • 2002b, Screened Out, London: Verso.