Writing: Mental Library: Postmodernism: Baudrillard's Stages of the "Loss of the Real" (Part 1)

Hello, Friends!

As Dragomir's post reminded me, we haven't talked about Baudrillard's stages of the "Loss of the Real." If you managed to understand Dragomir's elaborate explanation, you already know a little bit about the stages.

Before we start, though, there are two main terms you need to know:

Sign-an item that causes you to think of something else, but is not that thing. It's really hard to explain, so here are a few examples:

• A painting of Abraham Lincoln is a sign. The painting is not the real Abraham Lincoln, it just represents the real Abraham Lincoln. 
• A word is a sign of something. An example is the word "hat." The word "hat" is not actually a hat, it just makes you think of a hat.
• A nonfiction book is a sign. Say the book is about Amelia Earhart's journey around the world. The book is not actually Amelia Earhart's journey around the world, it just represents it.

Signifier- the thing the sign represents. Again, this is better explained through example:

• Abraham Lincoln is a signifier. The sign (the painting), represents him, but he is the real thing.
• A hat is a signifier. A hat is, well, a hat, which its sign (the word "hat"), represents. However, a hat is the actual thing.
• Continuing with Amelia Earhart, Amelia Earhart's actual journey around the world is the signifier, because it is the real thing.

I know these terms are hard to wrap your brain around, but hopefully they mostly make sense? You can take awhile to digest this, if that would help.

Now, for the stages!

Stage 1: The sign represents the signifier, and it represents it accurately. Let's continue with the painting and book examples. The word example gets too confusing.

• The painting of Abraham Lincoln (the sign) represents him correctly. This means Abraham Lincoln in real life looks exactly like the picture of himself.
• For Amelia Earhart's journey around the world, this means the book would give all the correct facts about her flight.

Stage 2: The sign misrepresents the signifier. This means the sign distorts, romanticizes, etc. the signifier, but still in some way represents the signifier.

• This would be like if Abraham Lincoln was painted with green skin, a green suit, and a pot of gold next to him. (I'm already thinking about St. Patrick's Day!) Abraham Lincoln did not actually have green skin, so this sign, (the painting), is a misrepresentation of him. However, it is still a representation of Abraham Lincoln because, well, you know the painting is supposed to be Abraham Lincoln
• This would be more commonly seen in a romanticized painting, like if someone painted the alleyway outside the place where Shakespeare lived without including the gross trash.
• For Amelia Earhart, it would be like if someone wrote a book about her journey around the world, but said that, in the process, she met cats who lived on clouds and took one home with her. The sign, (the book) misrepresents the signifier (Amelia Earhart's actual journey.) 
• This would more commonly be seen in memoirs, where the person writing remembers an event differently than it actually happened.

This is the first part! The next part is soon to follow! (And pictures will be added also.)

Spruce Nogard

Source: Peter Barry's chapter "Postmodernism" in Introduction to Theory