Another similar work (but not related) is the 1991 French book 'The Gulf War Did Not Take Place', by Jean Baudrillard (translated to English in 1995), which is in fact a collection of three articles published in the newspapers 'Libération' (French) and 'The Guardian' (British) between January and March 1991. The articles in Libération and Guardian were published before, during and after the war and they were titled accordingly. "The Gulf War will not take place" (Liberation, January 4, 1991), "The Gulf War is not really taking place" (Liberation, February 6, 1991) and, "The Gulf War did not take place" (Liberation, March 29, 1991). Contrary to the titles, the articles say that the events and violence of the Gulf War did take place, but not the way it was presented, and as such it couldn't be called a war.
Baudrillard points out that the war was conducted as a media spectacle. Rehearsed as a wargame or simulation, it was then enacted for the viewing public as a simulation: as a news event, with its paraphernalia of embedded journalists and missile's-eye-view video cameras. The real violence was thoroughly overwritten by electronic narrative.
Baudrillard points out that the war was conducted as a media spectacle. Rehearsed as a wargame or simulation, it was then enacted for the viewing public as a simulation: as a news event, with its paraphernalia of embedded journalists and missile's-eye-view video cameras. The real violence was thoroughly overwritten by electronic narrative.
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