Part 5 ~ The Loss (and Recuperation) of Meaning

In a culture that is obsessed with appearances and is too time-poor and preoccupied with trivial distractions to explore the nuance of issues, there is a tendency to “[prefer] the sign to the thing signified, the copy to the original, representation to reality, appearance to essence”(Debord, 2014, p.1).  The result is a loss of the original meaning.  This is known as recuperation.

In her journal essay Lectures, Documents and Discussions, Karen Kurczyncki defines recuperation (in its sociological sense) as “the process by which those who control the spectacular culture, embodied most obviously in the mass media, co-opt all revolutionary ideas by publicising a neutralised version of them, literally turning oppositional tactics into ideology” (Pellzzi 2008).

In a similar way to cultural appropriation - in which people outside of a culture adopt aspects of that culture, causing something that was once authentic and meaningful to lose its meaning (Reach Out, n.d.) - recuperation takes something that was once decidedly external from capitalism, and turns it into a spectacle, negating its original purpose.

By curating our appearances online, in efforts to seek validation, we flatten the nuance of lived experiences into visual pieces of our personal brands.  Therefore, in a sense, we recuperate our own lives.

This is particularly concerning when it comes to pressing issues, such as climate change.  Not only is it incredibly difficult for factual information to cut through the saturated smog of spectacles while remaining accurate and detailed (rather than “simplified and exaggerated”); but when it does, it may be received with an emphasis on its aesthetical values rather than its informative purposes.