The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord

Then I may start considering different publication possibilities, depending on what sort of interest has been expressed.Īnother reason is that Alice Debord has asked me to prepare new translations of all of Debord’s films, to be used in subtitling them for English-speaking audiences. For one thing, I’m not yet completely satisfied with it, and will be fine-tuning it over the next few months. In answer to a number of queries I have received: At the moment I have no plans to publish this translation in book form. Chapter 4, which with remarkable conciseness sums up the lessons of two centuries of revolutionary experience, is simply the most obvious example. Every single thesis has a direct or indirect bearing on issues that are matters of life and death. It is an effort to clarify the nature of the society in which we find ourselves and the advantages and drawbacks of various methods for changing it. It is not an ivory-tower academic or philosophical discourse. The book is not, however, as difficult or abstract as it is reputed to be. As you see how Debord deals with concrete historical events, you may get a better idea of the practical implications of ideas that are presented more abstractly in the other chapters. If you find the opening chapters too difficult, you might try starting with Chapter 4 or Chapter 5. I am nevertheless aware that it is far from perfect, and welcome any criticisms or suggestions. I believe that my translation conveys Debord’s actual meaning more accurately, as well as more clearly and idiomatically, than any of the other versions. His translation (Zone Books, 1994) and the earlier one by Fredy Perlman and John Supak (Black and Red, 1977) are both in print, and both can also be found at the Situationist International Online website.

In particular, I have adopted quite a few of Donald Nicholson-Smith’s renderings, though I have diverged from him in many other cases. I have gone through them all and have retained whatever seemed already to be adequate. There have been several previous English translations of The Society of the Spectacle.

The Society of the Spectacle by Guy Debord