Annotated Bibliography And Summary Baudrillard

*Baudrillard

1) Baudrillard discusses the topic of hyper-realities created by a consumer-driven society and questions the impact that a powerful enterprise such as Disney has on a culture driven by consumerism. Baudrillard argues that the Disney Company constructs a simulated reality that lacks authentic representations of culture, history, and the physical world.

2) Case Study/Theory; Ethnography/Exegesis.

3) Baudrillard contends that Disney, through the channel of consumerism, has transformed true reality into a depthless virtual reality that synchronizes time periods and cultures. This hyper-reality represents the absence of the real world.

4) The research design was effective because Baudrillard provided a case study to support his theory. However the article could have been more effective had Baudrillard expanded the arguments in the last paragraph to focused further attention on the impact that

Fjellman questions the credibility of Disney’s mix education and entertainment model and Disney claim to historical and factual legitimacy. Fjellman argues that by claiming to be authentic and extensive with visual details, powerful corporations like Disney can erase the boundary between real and fake, and true and false.

2) Theory/Case Study/Primary and Secondary Sources; Exegesis/Ethnography/Archival Research.

3) Fjellman concludes that the spaces and images manufactured by Disney in the EPCOT center are fantastical and carry no relation to reality, and American historical narrative.

4) Fjellman’s research design was effective because he interacted with his work (ethnography), and organized the chapter by exhibits, which he related back to this main thesis.

5) This article relates back to discussions on the influence of commodification on cultural practices, and a political economy that encourages consumption through tactics of mass marketing.

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