Introduction

I have just written my first draft to my introduction (see below). I think I need to refine and improve the structure of the introduction, however I feel that this will develop as I write the chapters for the dissertation.

Here is the first draft of my introduction:

The idea that humanity lives in a state of hyperreality, or state of flux between the real and fictional - where the foundations of society; morals, ethics, opinions and choices are based on (mis)representations and simulacra - is a heated and controversial debate that came to prominence through the writings of Jean Baudrillard and Frederic Jameson. Whereas in George Orwell's "1984", the fictional society has reached the pinnacle of hyperreal, where everything is seemed to be the reality of the time - where nothing is questioned but taken as the verity of the moment, however, aids only the dictatorship of the totalitarian state; controlling and manipulating the proletariat.

It is this two folded argument that I am interested in investigating and understanding - are we, as 21st century society, living in a postmodern state, where we have become so insouciant to the information that we receive from the media that we cannot distinguish between truth and fiction - "holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them" (1984 - part 1, chapter 3). This idea was presented in George Orwell's "1984" as the term "doublethink". Furthermore, is information that is believed wholeheartedly by citizens, a creation by the people in power to dissimulate, falsify and misdirect society to persuade, control and manipulate them - present today similar to that which was expressed in “1984”?

I am interested in how individuals and groups of people act upon and consume media. This is one of my rationales for the investigation - another one is to what extent is the information distributed by the media systematized and exploited. However, the aspect that I want to critically scrutinise is, has society reached a point where it has become so indoctrinated and acquiescent to hyperreality that it cannot escape the cycle?