Research On Baudrillard’s Symbolic Consumption Theory

Humans have not only created the history of production,but also created the history of consumption.Since the Enlightenment,mankind has gradually stepped out of the control of religious myths,and condensed a powerful main force in the exploration of the relationship between self and the world.Nowadays,consumption has constructed a new myth,which makes the subject once again shrouded in the haze of external law suppression.On the one hand,symbolic consumption is embedded in the subject’s daily life and becomes the lifestyle and values that the subject generally pursues;Symbol becomes the identity symbol of the subject,and the subject confirms social status with the help of symbols,thus creating a level of existence.On the other hand,symbolic consumption is embedded in the ideology of capitalist society,and with the help of symbolic consumption capitalism,the overall control of the subject is realized in a more relaxed and hidden way,thus maintaining the legitimate rule of capitalism.Symbolic consumption has become a common phenomenon in popular culture and gradually appears as the "light of existence" that dominates the whole social structure.Being exposed to the dehumanization of capitalist society,Baudrillard has a keen insight into the phenomenon of symbolic consumption.With the help of semiotics,he goes deep into the realistic situation of western capitalist consumption society,and pays attention to the symbolic operation hidden behind the goods through the appearance that the subject occupies the goods as much as possible,so as to reveal the operating mechanism that capitalism is still exploiting in the consumption field,and then comprehensively control the cruel truth of the subject and its real life.Based on the classical texts of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory,this paper further explores the ideological orientation and characteristics of the symbolic consumption theory.Except the introduction,the full text is divided into four parts.First,sort out Baudrillard’s theory of symbolic consumption and explore the development of the theory.On the basis of analyzing the realistic reasons of symbolic consumption,this paper clarifies the related concepts of symbolic consumption theory and expounds the evolution of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory.Secondly,it discusses Baudrillard’s alienation analysis of symbolic consumption and explores the objectivity of the theory.Starting with the transformation from the functional form existence of consumer goods to the symbolic difference existence,this paper reveals how consumption evolved into the deep mechanism of the difference and exchange structure of capitalist society,and then analyzes the symbolic discipline of capitalism to the subject with the help of consumption ideology.Thirdly,analyze Baudrillard’s subjective investigation based on symbolic consumption and explore the reality of the theory.Clear away the layers of fog of symbol consumption,and see through the erosion of symbol manipulation on consumer subject,consumer ethics and consumer psychology.Fourthly,based on the overall horizon of historical materialism,this paper makes a critical reflection on Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory and explores the value of the theory.Objectively examine the value implication of symbolic consumption theory,at the same time identify the historical limitations of the theory,focus on social reality,and give the theoretical interpretation of the times significance.Thus,it gives some enlightenment to the current situation that the subject is trapped in consumption,aiming at getting rid of the shackles of symbol control,getting out of the dilemma of consumption alienation and realizing the return of human subjectivity.