The Das Kapital of the 20th century. An essential text, and the main theoretical work of the situationists. Few works of political and cultural theory have been as enduringly provocative. From its publication amid the social upheavals of the 1960's up to the present, the volatile theses of this book have decisively transformed debates on the shape of modernity, capitalism, and everyday life in the late 20th century. This is the original translation by Fredy Perlman, kept in print continuously for the last 30 years, keeping the flame alive when no-one else cared.

Society Of The Spectacle

Business & Money

GUY DEBORD

Economics

Black & Red

Literary Nonfiction. Politics. Critical Theory. Art. Translated from the French and annotated by Ken Knabb. Guy Debord (1931-1994) was the founder and most influential member of the Situationist International, the notorious avant- garde group that helped trigger the May 1968 revolt in France. THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE, originally published in Paris in 1967, has been translated into more than twenty other languages and is arguably the most important radical book of the twentieth century. This is the first edition in any language to include extensive annotations, clarifying the historical allusions and revealing the sources of Debord's "détournements."

The Society of the Spectacle: Annotated Edition

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Bureau of Public Secrets

Society of the Spectacle

Soul Bay Press

Guy Debord (1931–1994) was the most influential member of the Situationist International, the avant-garde group that triggered the May 1968 revolt in France. His book The Society of the Spectacle is considered the most important theoretical work of the 20th century.
But while Debord’s written work is some of the most notorious in the world of political and cultural radicality, deemed "the cornerstone cliché of postmodernism," his films have until now remained tantalizingly inaccessible.
After being withdrawn from circulation for nearly two decades (by Debord himself, to call attention to the 1984 assassination of the producer of the films, Gerard Lebovici), all six films were featured in a special "Guy Debord -Retrospective" at the 2001 Venice Film Festival and re--released in France in 2002.
The most famous of the films is Debord’s cinematic adaptation of his own book, The Society of the Spectacle. As passages from the book are read in voiceover, the text is illuminated, via direct illustration or various types of ironic contrast, by clips from Russian and Hollywood features (Battleship Potemkin, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Johnny Guitar, etc.), TV commercials, softcore porn, newsreels and documentary footage.
Some of the other films evoke Debord’s adventures in the bohemian underworld of Paris during the 1950s, and in others Debord attacks the film medium itself, directly challenging the viewer by critiquing the traditional separation of spectacle and spectator.
Ken Knabb’s translation of Debord’s Complete Cinematic Works accompanies the long-awaited English versions of these films, which will be coming to the United States in 2003. The scripts are illustrated with 62 stills, and Debord’s own annotations help elucidate the subtleties of these astonishing works, which are like nothing else in cinema history.
Ken Knabb edited and translated the highly regarded -Situationist International Anthology.

Guy Debord Complete Cinematic Works: Scripts, Stills, Documents

AK Press

A Sociedade do Espetáculo

CONTRAPONTO

A Sociedade do Espectáculo

Antigona

Zone Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by GUY DEBORD. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by GUY DEBORD