Phantom CommunitiesPhantom Communities reconsiders the status of the simulacrumsometimes defined as a copy of a copy, but more rigorously defined as a copy that subverts the legitimacy and authority of its modelin light of recent debates in literature, art, philosophy, and cultural studies. The author pursues two interwoven levels of analysis. On one level, he explores the poetics of the simulacrum, considered as a form that internalizes repetition, through close