Media Studies A-Level
Simulation
What Simulation means in Media Studies A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definitions of Simulation
Exam boards and our study guides word this term in slightly different ways. Learn the version your board uses.
Check what you remember
Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Simulation in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: AQA
The process that produces signs which no longer refer to a real original, with hyperreality being the resulting condition.
Baudrillard's wider theory in which the map precedes the territory and signs lose their connection to a stable referent.
Process by which a representation replaces the real it once referred to, so the copy becomes the reference point.
Topics that use Simulation
Related terms
- Hyperreality
- Representation
- Sign and referent
- Audience response to constructed versions
- Baudrillard and postmodernism
- Media saturation
- Simulacra
Using Simulation in the exam
Check the command word and mark scheme for your exact question. After comparing your explanation with the reference, use the term in an answer on the linked topic. This practice does not predict an exam mark.
Practise Media Studies questions
Create a free account to answer exam-style questions on this topic and get feedback on your answers.
Start free
All Media Studies A-Level termsA week of Premium from your first lesson · Then the free plan continues · No card, no charge