Jean Baudrillard: From Hyperreality to Disappearance

Uncollected Interviews

23 collected interviews with the renowned French philosopher and cultural commentator, Jean Baudrillard

This new collection gathers 23 highly insightful yet previously difficult-to-find interviews with Baudrillard, ranging over topics as diverse as art, war, technology, globalisation, terrorism and the fate of humanity.

From familiar themes to the less well understood aspects of his thought, these interviews give you an overview of Baudrillard's ideas – without the jargon typical of written texts. Read as Baudrillard himself discusses, explains and elaborates on his ideas, making this collection essential for understanding many of his other works.

Key Features

The first book of collected interviews with Baudrillard for over two decades 

Valuable to new and seasoned readers of Baudrillard and to students and academics in philosophy, sociology, literary theory, art history, architecture, film and photography, cultural studies, human geography and media studies

Gathers many unknown and otherwise unavailable pieces into one volume

Review

This is an excellent companion for the initiated. There is an opportunity to read into the person who produced books like Simulacra and Simulation and The Gulf War Did Not Take Place. Smith and Clarke have produced a text that was an absolute joy to read for a Baudrillard fan, while also improving my understanding of his work and my appreciation of his abilities. – Jeff Heydon, Wilfrid Laurier University and University of Toronto, Marx & Philosophy Review of Books

Jean Baudrillard here covers an enormous amount of ground: from the way he worked, his career, through his major ideas, to topics such as hatred and terrorism. Baudrillard is witty and inventive, defends and develops his ideas clearly and vigorously. A dazzling display. Sharp and fascinating. – Professor Mike Gane, Loughborough University

About the Authors

Richard G. Smith is Associate Professor in Human Geography at Swansea University. He is co-editor of Jean Baudrillard: Fatal Theories (Routledge, 2009); The Baudrillard Dictionary (EUP, 2010); Jean Baudrillard: From Hyperreality to Disappearance, Uncollected Interviews (EUP, 2015); and, Jean Baudrillard: The Disappearance of Culture, Uncollected Interviews (EUP, 2017).

David B. Clarke is Professor of Human Geography at Swansea University. He is co-editor of Jean Baudrillard: Fatal Theories (Routledge, 2009) and The Consumption Reader (Routledge, 2003). He is the author of The Consumer Society and the Postmodern City (Routledge, 2003).