Study On Baudrillard’s Symbolic Consumption Theory

Jean Baudrillard is a well-known contemporary French social theorist and one of the popular thinkers with wide influence in Europe and the United States.With the development of the economy and the progress of science and technology,he realized that people’s production and lifestyle were also secretly changing,people’s needs had also changed imperceptibly,and the world had entered a new era of material needs-from a production society to a consumer society.Starting from the reality of people’s social life,Baudrillard combined his unique semiotic thinking and logic with Marxist theory,deeply studied the consumption relationship between people and things,and profoundly revealed that people would gradually lose their subjective status in consumer society.Instead,symbols became the main body that controlled people’s consciousness and needs,which has significance for contemporary society.This article is mainly divided into five parts:The first part is an introduction,which discusses the research background of the article,the current situation at home and abroad,the research methods and research ideas of the whole text.The second part mainly elaborates on the theoretical origins of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory.He inherited Roland Barthes’ s semiotics and Lefebvre’s critical theory of everyday life,blending the theories of the two and initially forming a unique theory of consumption within the framework of Marxism.The third part mainly examines the content and character of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory.After reading a large number of original works about Baudrillard,this article summarizes the symbolic consumption theory into four aspects.The first is a generalization of the connotation of symbol consumption.The second is the manifestation of symbol consumption,which is the symbolization of things,body,culture and services.Mass media,as a carrier of symbol consumption,has shaped the unity and atmosphere of symbol consumption,and these characteristics also affect people’s pursuit of symbols.It is once again revealed that the essence of symbolic consumption theory is consumption under social manipulation.Finally,Baudrillard’s critique of capitalist politics and capitalist culture is pointed out.The fourth part deals with the evaluation of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory.Let’s start with rationality and limitations.The rationality of symbolic consumption theory includes two aspects,to provide a new perspective for the study of the consumption level of daily life,and to deepen the critique of abstract society.The limitations of symbolic consumption theory include: first,it dissolves Marx’s theory of class and class struggle;second,it misinterprets Marx’s theory of production logic;and third,it causes the dilemma of human subjectivity.Moreover,this study contains the implication of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory,which clarifies the significance of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory from both the theoretical and practical levels,correctly understanding consumerism,and thus preventing falling into the trap of symbolic consumption.It should be noted that people should dialectically handle the relationship between production and consumption well.Neither can they overemphasize production and ignore consumption,nor blindly stimulate consumption and relax production,so as to build a socialist and harmonious consumer culture in production.The concluding part is a summary of the whole text.Although Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory deviates from Marxism,it affirms the importance of the value of Baudrillard’s symbolic consumption theory,which has an indelible contribution to social progress.