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Sto caricando le informazioni... Postprint: Books and Becoming Computational (The Wellek Library Lectures)di N. Katherine Hayles
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Since Gutenberg ?s time, every aspect of print has gradually changed. But the advent of computational media has exponentially increased the pace, transforming how books are composed, designed, edited, typeset, distributed, sold, and read. N. Katherine Hayles traces the emergence of what she identifies as the postprint condition, exploring how the interweaving of print and digital technologies has changed not only books but also language, authorship, and what it means to be human.Hayles considers the ways in which print has been enmeshed in literate societies and how these are changing as some of the cognitive tasks once performed exclusively by humans are now carried out by computational media. Interpretations and meaning-making practices circulate through transindividual collectivities created by interconnections between humans and computational media, which Hayles calls cognitive assemblages. Her theoretical framework conceptualizes innovations in print technology as redistributions of cognitive capabilities between humans and machines. Humanity is becoming computational, just as computational systems are edging toward processes once thought of as distinctively human. Books in all their diversity are also in the process of becoming computational, representing a crucial site of ongoing cognitive transformations.Hayles details the consequences for humanities publications through interviews with scholars and university press professionals and considers the cultural implications in readings of two novels, The Silent History and The Word Exchange, that explore the postprint condition. Spanning fields including book studies, cultural theory, and media archeology, Postprint is a strikingly original consideration of the role of computational media in the ongoing evolution of humanity. Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)302.231Social sciences Social Sciences; Sociology and anthropology Social Interaction Communication Media (Means of communication) Digital mediaClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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Very broadly, Hayles uses the concept of a cognitive assemblage to frame the current ideas and concerns around books and print media. Thus the period we're in, postprint, or perhaps more accurately post(exclusively)print. I'll highlight a few of my main takeaways and areas that intrigued me.
I was initially skeptical of the term cognitive assemblage but as she explained both the concept and the thinking behind her choice of words, I came to appreciate it. In particular her decision to use the idea of cognition versus thinking or another similar term. Her explanation that cognition is, and I am very much oversimplifying here, getting information and, based on that information, choosing one of several paths allows for the inclusion of computer-based and even electromechanical operations to be part of a cognitive assemblage. So once all of the steps in a process, whether creating a text or reading a text, are not entirely determined on each iteration by a human we have a sharing of the cognitive aspects and thus a cognitive assemblage. Trust me, she explains this much better than I do.
I found the chapter on university presses to be very interesting. How to meet demands for print and digital, how to look ahead and anticipate future advancements, and how academia, emphasis here on the humanities, can adjust its publishing expectations for hiring or tenure decisions. While this is specific to university presses the ideas and concerns can easily be applied to the publishing sector at large.
Hayles discusses several works that are postprint novels or require a computational element to "read." These analyses are intriguing whether you're familiar with the texts or not. The points I took away had more to do with what the implications are for future works though on my next reading I want to concentrate on the theoretical ideas they represent (either in their narrative or in how they must be "read"). The questions around language, whether words are constrictive or enabling, whether communication would be better or worse if we eliminated the need to put ideas into words, reminded me of a book I recently read, Hegel in a Wired Brain by Slavoj Zizek, that looks at what it might be like to communicate directly brain to brain without forming words. Would nuance be gained or lost?
I definitely recommend this to anyone interested in where books and printed media are going. There is a lot of information here and I have no doubt that someone with a stronger background in this area would have gotten a lot more out of it than I did. But the writing is clear and most terms are explained well enough that a reader can get the flow of the arguments. And yes, this is a book that rewards rereading after having had a chance to let the ideas sink in.
Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley. ( )