[OPE-L] Jean Baudrillard, 1929-2007

From: glevy@PRATT.EDU
Date: Wed Mar 07 2007 - 11:14:32 EST


<http://info.interactivist.net/article.pl?sid=07/03/07/0539243>

French Philosopher and Social Theorist Jean Baudrillard Dies
Elaine Ganley, Canadian Press

PARIS (AP) - Jean Baudrillard, a French philosopher and social theorist
known for his provocative commentaries on consumerism, excess and what he
said was the disappearance of reality, died Tuesday, his publishing house
said. He was 77.

Baudrillard died at his home in Paris after a long illness, said Michel
Delorme, of the Galilee publishing house.

The two men had worked together since 1977, when "Oublier Foucault"
(Forget Foucault) was published, one of about 30 books by Baudrillard,
Delorme said by telephone.

Among his last published books was "Cool Memories V," in 2005.

Baudrillard, a sociologist by training, is perhaps best known for his
concepts of "hyperreality" and "simulation."

Baudrillard advocated the idea that spectacle is crucial in creating our
view of events - what he termed "hyperreality." Things do not happen if
they are not seen to happen.

He gained fame, and notoriety, in the English-speaking world for his 1991
book "The Gulf War Did Not Take Place." In the first Gulf War, he claimed,
nothing was as it appeared.

The public's - and even the military's - view of the conflict came largely
through television images; Saddam Hussein was not defeated; the U.S.-led
coalition scarcely battled the Iraqi military and did not really win,
since little was changed politically in Iraq after all the carnage. All
the sound and fury signified little, he argued.

The Sept. 11 attacks, in contrast, were the hyper-real event par
excellence - a fusion of history, symbolism and dark fantasy, "the mother
of all events."

His views on the attacks sparked controversy. While terrorists had
committed the atrocity, he wrote, "It is we who have wanted it. . . .
Terrorism is immoral, and it responds to a globalization that is itself
immoral."

Although many Americans were puzzled by his views, Baudrillard was a
tireless enthusiast for the United States - though he once called it "the
only remaining primitive society."

"Santa Barbara is a paradise; Disneyland is a paradise; the U.S. is a
paradise," he wrote. "Paradise is just paradise. Mournful, monotonous, and
superficial though it may be, it is paradise. There is no other."

French Education Minister Gilles de Robien said "We lose a great creator."

"Jean Baudrillard was one of the great figures of French sociological
thought."

Born west of Paris in Reims on June 20, 1929, Baudrillard, the son of
civil servants, began a long teaching career instructing high school
students in German. After receiving a doctorate in sociology, he taught at
the University of Paris in Nanterre.


This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.5 : Sat Mar 31 2007 - 01:00:12 EDT