BAUDRILLARD'S VIEW OF THE ROLE OF THE MASS MEDIA WITHIN THE CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

Abstract

Jean Baudrillard is one of the authors that constantly attract the attention of theoreticians. There are hardly any sociology textbooks which do not discuss his key ideas. In spite of all the controversy around his work, Baudrillard is an unavoidable author in any discussion on the postmodern discourse in sciences. At the same time he has inspired many artists, resulting in the fact that many film artists have created totalitarian dystopian worlds which have commonly been referred to as Baudrillard's worlds. When it comes to the mass media, Baudrillard's works emphasize the term simulacrum. According to Baudrillard, all original cultural forms are absorbed in commercial discourse. Baudrillard notices a tendency of the commercial to become a supreme form of expression, even when it does not come to a nominal commercial. His specific view of the modern means of mass communication has made him one of the key theoreticians of the media culture.