A Critical Study On Guy Debord's The Society Of The Spectacle

Guy Debord is one of the most important intellectual revolutionaries in the twentieth century.He is also a well-known contemporary director,ideologist,and the representative of the Situationists International.The Society of the Spectacle,consisting of 221 short beautiful articles,is his most important work,which was published in 1967.The book,known as the contemporary On Capital,holds an important position in the history of western thoughts.With economic growth and technological advances after the second World War,the productive efficiency has been greatly improved.Since the late period of the twentieth century,the developed capitalist countries have entered the track of high-speed modernization and the electronic imaging technology has been easily available in people's daily life.Against this background,the abundant commodities,together with electronic media,shapes the “spectacle society”.In addition,the contemporary developed capitalist countries have shifted from the capital society to the “spectacle” society,from the production society to the consumption society.As a result,the capitalists manipulate the public by means of images and symbols.Guy Debord's criticism on “The Society of the Spectacle” is his reflections on the era from a philosophical perspective.As he suggests,the “spectacle society” can find the root at the separation of the contemporary capitalist society.Guy Debord reveals the characteristics of the contemporary capitalist society as follows: people are fascinated by the “spectacle”,people don't pursue the truth any more,instead,they pursue the illusory images in the “spectacle” society.The capitalists,then,manipulate the whole society through the images derived from the conscious performance.The “spectacle society” theory indicates that the contemporary capitalist society manipulates the society and makes the social relations complex by the images of mass media.The indulged public are satisfied not with “having”,but with the conspicuous “appearing”.In this way,Debord reveals the conspicuous characteristics of the contemporary capitalist society.The theory inherits and develops the critical spirit of Marxism.The consumption society not only means abundance of commodities,but also an alienated society.With 221 short articles,Debord makes an analysis of the phenomena of “spectacle” and “alienation”.Debord hopes that his book can alert people to the illusion and the “alienation” and in the end,people can go back to the natural life.Based on the daily consumption activities in today's China,this thesis is to shed light on the influence of spectacle society on contemporary China,thus reveal the manipulation of our life and consumption by the “images” and “symbols”,which will serve as a mirror for us to construct a rational and harmonious consumption culture.