How to Read Guy Debord (English Edition)

How to Read Guy Debord is a revisitation of a controversial social theory created and introduced by Guy Debord almost 50 years ago. It is no coincidence that his theory of an all-encompassing commodification of social space and time remains more relevant than ever in contemporary Western culture. Like everything else in time, if you leave something hanging in the closet long enough, you can be assured it will come back in style. Although, it is all but certain that when there is a remake of a culture's favorite movie or popular song, the old guard will undoubtedly be unhappy with the new version. The book is not an attempt to rewrite the history of the spectacle, but rather to explain the theory to 21st century students who are 2nd and 3rd generation spectacle babies. How to Read Guy Debord is a practical, fun, and informative exercise, as well as a reintroduction of Debord to the very generation he feared would not be able to escape the grip of the society of the spectacle. The book uses contemporary issues of our time, such as September 11th, the 2008 housing crisis, the papacy of Pope John Paul II, the age of social media, as well as many other examples to help the student understand Debord's famous notion of how the commodification of social space and time knows no boundaries of time or place, or of generations. At the conclusion of the discussion, K.M. Krauter offers up a suggestion of yet another form of the spectacle that has since evolved since Debord's last commentary on his theory in 1988. It is what Krauter defines as the "triangulated" spectacle.