A Study Of Symbolic Culture Theory Of Consumer Society Of Baudrillard

As a main representative of the post-modernism thoughts,Baudrillard,who is a new cultural theorist of post-modernism, was praised as the"patronsaint"of the post-modernism world. His theory of symbolic culture hasinflunced the modern media, art and the discourse of the society profoundly.The early works of Baudrillard connected the political economy of Karl Marxand semiotics of Roland Barthes in a new method, and mentioned theimportance of Symbolic value in Symbolic political economy. In his laterworks, the discussion of simulacra, implosion and the culture of hyper-realityhave revealed a series of characteristics on the symbolic culture under theinfluence of mass media.In the theory of symblic, Baudrillard considered that the culture ofcurrent society has changed into a kind of symbolic culture to a certain extent.According to this point, he absorbed the media theory of Marshall McLuhan,the semiotics of Roland Barthes, Lefebvre's daily critique theory of modernworld, the social critique theory of Frankfort School, and analyzed all kinds ofconsumer culture and the phenomenon of symbolization in aesthetic and art inconsumer societyRelated closely to commodities, consumer and medium, thosephenomenons of symbolic culture has lead to a series of predicaments and newchanges in the culture, such as the crisis between appearance and reappearance,the vulgar inclination of the culture, changes of aesthetic condition and thealienation of individual outlook of values and so on. In regard to thosephenomenon, Baudrillard criticized them at the angle of post-modernism,andadvocated to rebuild Symbolic culture as"the only way to rescue". The theoryof symbolic culture offered a new thinking method to understand thecontemporary social culture condition, at the same time, it made Baudrillardsunk in the theoretical trouble of"determinism of Symbol"and the trouble ofmetaphysics. For this purpose, we should receive his achievements of symbolic culture on the basis of critique, in the hope of giving a guide to ourcountry's current culture condition of"consumer society".