Document Type : Original Article
Abstract
Jean Baudrillard is one of the most prominent theorists of media studies and postmodernism who is perhaps the least known theorist of this field in Iran. His influential theories and harsh criticisms of the cultural structure of post-industrial societies have turned him into one of postmodernity’s most outspoken critics. The keyword in his ideas is “reality”, which is perhaps the oldest concept in Western philosophy. His ingenious exploration of the complexities of reality in our time is both an expansion of Marxism and its integration with a kind of poststructuralist semiotics.
The present essay expounds Baudrillard’s thought, placing it within the theoretical framework of structuralism. It then moves on to give an account of the theories that Baudrillard has developed in this framework about the function of the media in contemporary society. The next section of the essay examines Baudrillard’s analysis of the way the news about the war between the USA and Saddam Hossein’s Iraq was reflected in the mass media. The final section of the essay explores the television reports of the Vietnam War.
Keywords
)