press review
The Society of the Cyberspace
The Polish edition of The Revolution of Everyday Life by Raoul Vaneigem has just arrived. Along with Debord’s The Society of the Spectacle it is considered one of the key works of the Situationist Movement. Polish readers had to wait a long time for this publication (the French original appeared in 1967). Now, after thirty seven years, it might be rewarding to read the work together with the latest Kultura Popularna, which features Steven Best and Douglas Kellner’s analysis Debord, Cybersituations, and the Interactive Spectacle.
Best and Kellner, as it is pointed out in a note accompanying the text, have originally published the article in a special, Debordian edition of SubStance magazine. The text has been printed five years ago; one might wonder if it is still up to date, especially in the contemporary world, with the incredible pace of life and changes so quick one hardly notices them happening. This debate is, however, only beginning to take place in Poland. It is not long since we have been given the opportunity to test the “delightful” joys of consumerism. The text may serve as a warning, but, at the same time, after reading it one might conclude that our present situation bears some signs of improvement and a break away from the dependence in which we have until now functioned.