Baudrillard: A Critical Reader

Author: Kellner (USA) / Chen Weizhen / Chen Mingda / Wang Feng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Jean Baudrillard, who describes himself as a "terrorist of knowledge," is one of the most important and provocative writers of our time, widely hailed as a prophet of postmodernity. He asserts that in the current social structure, the subject, political economy, meaning, truth, social things, and real things have disappeared, a claim that is highly renowned in the intellectual world. Baudrillard replaces the stubborn modern orthodoxy with his own novelistic expressions and arguments, and his writings have sparked immense controversy, forcing readers to vote on whether his ideas represent progress or regression based on their ideological stance. Most critics of Baudrillard either enthusiastically praise him or fiercely condemn him. This critical work is a book that attempts to provide a fair assessment of Baudrillard's contributions to contemporary thought. The multiple authors approach Baudrillard's works with earnestness, depth, and contemplation, exploring his positions on various specific themes, fields, and debates—from his early writings on "object systems" to his recent metaphysical reflections on the fate of the subject. Distinguishing between the beneficial and the useless, the valuable and the foolish, the serious and the playful, the important and the insignificant, this new collection of essays on Baudrillard is a must-read for all students of contemporary cultural theory.