simulacrum
/ˌsɪmjʊˈleɪkrəm
/noun (plural simulacra /ˌsɪmjʊˈleɪkrə/ or simulacrums)
1An image or representation of someone or something: a small-scale simulacrum of a skyscraper...
- Despite the obvious codes of virtuality at play, of simulation and simulacra, the image works.
- Anything for a ‘feel good’ image, for a simulacrum, in these postmodern times
- Painted kite tails, assemblages, photo and film documentation, and an electronic simulacrum of kite-flying were recently on view in a New York gallery
1.1An unsatisfactory imitation or substitute: a bland simulacrum of American soul music...
- Unlike France, the United States has never had a publicly defined national curriculum - although we seem to have allowed private enterprise to define a thoroughly unsatisfactory simulacrum of one.
- Whereas representation attempts to absorb simulation by interpreting it as false representation, simulation envelops the whole edifice of representation itself as a simulacrum.
- Heavily shaped by the generation of the 1960s, most of us may become mere simulacrums of our mentors.
Origin
Late 16th century: from Latin, from simulare (see simulate).