Reality vs. Simulation: A Postmodernist Analysis of the Hyperreality in Agency by Gibson

Abstract

This research examines how Agency by Gibson depicts Baudrillard’s (1981) concept of the precession of simulacra. The research particularly investigates the gradual disappearance of reality through four stages of simulation. It employs qualitative textual analysis as its primary method and employs Baudrillard’s (1981) framework as a theoretical framework. The findings reveal that Agency mirrors Baudrillard’s four stages. The first order retains referential realism. The second distorts reality through algorithmic mediation. The third order exposes the absence of an original referent through the concept of the stub, and the fourth order achieves full hyperreality embodied in the autonomous AI, Eunice. The findings demonstrated that in the digital age, representation not only replaces but also generates reality. The research contributes to postmodern literary scholarship by confirming that Gibson’s Agency does not merely depict hyperreality, but it also performs it. These findings reinforce Baudrillard’s (1981) view that simulation has become the dominant mode of postmodern literature. Future research could further explore how contemporary digital fiction continues to enact this transition from representation to pure simulation, offering new perspectives on the ontology of the postmodern novel.