nerd teacher [books] reviewed Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord
Glad I Finally Read It
3.0 stars
When I first started reading this book, I felt really confused. I'd only ever seen Guy Debord referenced with regards to media, but the book didn't seem to be focused on media; it felt like a more general critique of political ideologies and social structures. As a result, I had to go look for a bit of an exploration of the book before continuing so that I could better understand what was being said.
That said, I think if media studies engaged with the whole book, they'd find a lot more interesting critiques to engage with, even if I don't necessarily agree with everything that Debord wrote.
One frustrating thing is that the final chapter (IX) feels jarring after reading the rest. There's also the utilisation of ableist language, most of which is done in terms of someone saying "I feel insane." In Chapter IX, there are mentions …
When I first started reading this book, I felt really confused. I'd only ever seen Guy Debord referenced with regards to media, but the book didn't seem to be focused on media; it felt like a more general critique of political ideologies and social structures. As a result, I had to go look for a bit of an exploration of the book before continuing so that I could better understand what was being said.
That said, I think if media studies engaged with the whole book, they'd find a lot more interesting critiques to engage with, even if I don't necessarily agree with everything that Debord wrote.
One frustrating thing is that the final chapter (IX) feels jarring after reading the rest. There's also the utilisation of ableist language, most of which is done in terms of someone saying "I feel insane." In Chapter IX, there are mentions of schizophrenia and autism that feel out of pocket and awkward in their context.