Jean Baudrillard's Simulacra and Simulation ACCORDING TO BAUDRILLARD, what has happened in postmodern culture is that our society has become so reliant on models and maps that we have lost all contact with the real world that preceded the map. Reality itself has begun merely to imitate the model, which now precedes and determines the real world: "The territory no longer precedes the map, nor does it survive it. It is nevertheless the map that precedes the territory—precession of simulacra—that engenders the territory" ( "The Precession of Simulacra" 1 ). According to Baudrillard, when it comes to postmodern simulation and simulacra, “It is no longer a question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of substituting the signs of the real for the real” ( "The Precession of Simulacra" 2 ). Baudrillard is not merely suggesting that postmodern culture is artificial, because the concept of artificiality still requires some sense of r...
Readerly & Writerly Texts The Readerly Text Barthes argues that most texts are readerly texts. Such texts are associated with classic texts that are presented in a familiar, linear, traditional manner, adhering to the status quo in style and content. Meaning is fixed and pre-determined so that the reader is a site merely to receive information. These texts attempt, through the use of standard representations and dominant signifying practices, to hide any elements that would open up the text to multiple meaning. Readerly texts support the commercialized values of the literary establishment and uphold the view of texts as disposable commodities. The Writerly Text By contrast, writerly texts reveal those elements that the readerly attempts to conceal. The reader, now in a position of control, takes an active role in the construction of meaning. The stable meaning, or metanarratives, of readerly texts is replaced by a proliferation of meanings and a disregard of narrative structure. Th...
Hero as Poet ” in “On Heroes, Hero- Worship, and The Heroic in History ” by Thomas Carlyle. Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) is the prominent writer of Victorian age . His early work is consisted of translations, essays and auto biographies. His other historical works include “The History of Fredrick II of Prussia”, called Fredrick the Great , “Past and Present” and “Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches”. He holds fair fame by dint of Sartor Resartus. “On Heros, Hero-Worship and The Heroic in History” is also his famous work which is consisted of five lectures. First is Hero as Divinity, second is Hero as Prophet, third is Hero as Poet, forth is Hero as Man of Letters and fifth is Hero as King. Carlyle in third lecture depicts that what sort of a poet can be a hero. According to him having all qualities of heroic warrior can delineate a picture of a heroic warrior in his writings. Like prophets poets are the peop...