Flatline Constructs; Gothic Materialism and Cybernetic Theory-Fiction. By Mark Fisher
My chosen Website discusses Baudrillard’s obsessively repeated claims about “the end of the Real” it looks at how often it has invited misinterpretation – and derision, particularly from critics such as Douglas Kellner who was an early theorist in media and culture in general. When looking at postmodern literature Baudrillard considers whether or not it is theoretical and looks at the biological and social aspects. Baudrillard claims,
‘If cybernetic culture demands that the theoretical, the biological and the social be thought together, it is because it places everything under the sign of the fictional (which automatically and immediately changes the status of “fiction”).’
Fisher discusses how Baudrillard views ‘reality’ as occupying a tendency to become ‘fiction’ and the tendency of ‘fiction’ to become ‘reality’.
This site is good to look at, especially for comparison with other theorist and their views of postmodern writing and the main features of it.
2. Kathy Acker
Acker was born into a Jewish family April 1947 and died November 1997. She was a feminist who took a lot of inspiration from pornography and was very interested in postmodernism. Acker was known as one of the best experimental writers of her generation. She also wrote poems and plays. Acker also took a great interest in the punk movement in the 1970’s and 1980’s, she was seen as rebellious character but never the less a very talented author.
Acker wrote many books and novels, such as Blood and Guts in High School, ( 1984).
The plot is a ten year old girl called Janey Smith, who lived in Mexico with her father who she had a sexual relationship with, afterwards, her father met a woman. Janey moved to America where she got addicted to sex at a young age and then joined a gang called the Scorpians. Eventually Janey got captured by a Persian slave trader who locks Janey up and uses her for prostitution. Janey is set free and soon finds out she has cancer. Janey then meets the love of her life Jean Genet who was a French writer; they then travel around North Africa together. They break up and shortly after, Janey dies.
This is a clear example of postmodernism literature and puts Baudrillard’s view of reality becoming fiction and fiction becoming reality into practice. This story line also depicts Acker postmodernist view and teachings, with sex being used as a metaphor for the destruction society can cause.
http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/_SPEED_/1.1/acker.html
http://www.nagasaki-gaigo.ac.jp/ishikawa/amlit/a/acker21.htm
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