The Simulacra In Flow My Tears,the Policeman Said

Flow My Tears,the Policeman Said in 1974 written by Philip K.Dick（1928-1982）won the John Campbell Memorial Award.The novel tells the story of Jason Taverner,a TV variety singer,who is being arrested by the police due to the lack of identity data in a society under the authoritarian rule of the police.Under the effect of mescaline,time and space are reversed and Jason returns to the original world.Under the guidance of Jean Baudrillard’s simulacra theory,this thesis explores the loss of subjectivity in this novel.Simulacra refers to a series of figures,images or symbols juxtaposed in the virtual world and the real world.Baudrillard’s analysis of simulacra has become a postmodernist turn in cyberspace research.This theory is to analyze the seduction and manipulation of objects and electronic media for the characters in the real and the hallucinatory world of the novel,and to further discuss the identity construction of the characters in the novel.It aims to reveal the existence status of the subject in the post-modern consumer society: the decline of subjectivity.Firstly,from the perspective of semiotics,the thesis analyzes the loss of the use value of fashionable goods and collections in the imitation phase.Fashionable goods and collections not only show Jason,Alys and other people’s individual consumption consciousness,but also a symbol of identity and status.Although the way of idolization and killing pastime can bring momentary pleasure,they have mixed real needs with fake ones.Secondly,through the analysis of fake identity documents and pottery duplicates in the production phase,it points out that the mechanization can complete the construction of a certain model,but it makes the object lose its authenticity,thus leading to the absence of subjects,Jason and Mary.Finally,by means of electronic media such as tracing devices and advertisements in the simulation phase,the thesis discusses the disappearance of the boundary between politics,entertainment and advertisement during the implosion of information,which makes Jason and Buckman become consumer goods of the capitalist public and thus fall into the nihilism of the subject.In general,through the analysis of the objects and media in Flow My Tears,the Policeman Said,this thesis points out that the abundance of objects and the overflow of information have become an inevitable trend in the post-modern consumer society.They construct and threaten the presence of the subject.The object seduces the subject by various means,and satisfies the needs of the subject,and tries to push the balance of the subject and object,which also becomes a way of capitalist monopolization to control the society.This novel written by Dick is fairly predictable and has its intention to let people be aware of the oppression in the future society.