Reading Digital Culture
KeyWorks in Cultural Studies
1. Edition January 2001
384 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
ISBN:
978-0-631-22302-3
John Wiley & Sons
Computer technology has transformed many fundamental parts of life: how we work and play, how we communicate and consume, how we create knowledge and learn, even how we understand politics and participate in public life. Reading Digital Culture is a comprehensive collection of the most influential essays on digital media written in recent years.
Introduction.
Part I: The Machine in the Garden.
1. As We May Think. (Vannevar Bush).
2. Ada. (Sadie Plant).
3. From Virtual Reality to the Virtualization of Reality.
(Slavotj Zizek).
4. Speed and Information: cyberspace Alarm! (Paul Virilio).
5. A Manifesto for Cyborgs. (Donna Haraway).
6. Machinic Heterogenesis. (Felix Guattari).
Part II: Knowledge and Communication in a Digital
Age.
7. Johnny Mnemonic. (William Gibson).
8. The Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace. (Michael Heim).
9. Virtually Female: Body and Code. (Margaret Morse).
10. Hypertext and Critical Theory. (George Landdow).
11. Computers as Theatre. (Brenda Laurel).
12. The Information War. (Hakim Bey).
Part III: Living in the Immaterial World.
13. Dilemmas of Transformation in the Age of the Smart Machine.
(Shoshana Zuboff).
14. Technology and the Future of Work. (Stanley Aronowitz).
15. The Theory of the Virtual Class. (Arthur Kroker and Michael
A. Weinsteing).
16. The Informational Economy. (Manuel Castells).
17. The Global Information Highway: Project for an Ungovernable
World. (Herbert Schiller).
18. The Coming Age of the Flesh Machine. Critical Art
Ensemble.
Part IV: Performing Identity in Cyberspace.
19. Will the Real Body Please Stand Up? Boundary Stories about
Virtual Encounters. (Allucquere Rosanne (Sandy) Stone).
20. A Rape in Cyberspace; or, How an Evil Clown, a Haitian
Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a
Database into a Society. (Julian Dibbell).
21. Women & Children First: Gender and the Settling of the
Electronic Frontier. (Laura Miller).
22. We're Teen, We're Queer and We've Got E-mail. (Steve
Silberman).
23. Race In/ For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing
on the Internet. (Lisa Nakamura).
24. Who Am We? (Sherry Turkle).
Part V: Searching for Community Online.
25. Collective Intelligence. (Pierre Levy).
26. Cyber Democracy: The Internet and the Public Sphere. (Mark
Poster).
27. The Virtual Community. (Howard Rheingold).
28. The Virtual Barrio @ the Other Frontier. (Guillermo
Gomez-Pena).
29. A Disappearance of Community. (Avital Ronell).
Part VI: Reading Digital Culture.
30. History, Theory and Virtual Reality. (Robert Markley).
31. The Seductions of Cyberspace. (N. Katherine Hayles).
32. New Age Mutant Ninja Hackers: Reading MONDO 2000. (Vivian
Sobchack).
33. Virtual Skin: Articulating Race in Cyberspace. (Cameron
Bailey).
34. Towards a New Media Aesthetic. (Timothy Allen Jackson).
35. The New Smartness. (Andrew Ross).
Index.
Part I: The Machine in the Garden.
1. As We May Think. (Vannevar Bush).
2. Ada. (Sadie Plant).
3. From Virtual Reality to the Virtualization of Reality.
(Slavotj Zizek).
4. Speed and Information: cyberspace Alarm! (Paul Virilio).
5. A Manifesto for Cyborgs. (Donna Haraway).
6. Machinic Heterogenesis. (Felix Guattari).
Part II: Knowledge and Communication in a Digital
Age.
7. Johnny Mnemonic. (William Gibson).
8. The Erotic Ontology of Cyberspace. (Michael Heim).
9. Virtually Female: Body and Code. (Margaret Morse).
10. Hypertext and Critical Theory. (George Landdow).
11. Computers as Theatre. (Brenda Laurel).
12. The Information War. (Hakim Bey).
Part III: Living in the Immaterial World.
13. Dilemmas of Transformation in the Age of the Smart Machine.
(Shoshana Zuboff).
14. Technology and the Future of Work. (Stanley Aronowitz).
15. The Theory of the Virtual Class. (Arthur Kroker and Michael
A. Weinsteing).
16. The Informational Economy. (Manuel Castells).
17. The Global Information Highway: Project for an Ungovernable
World. (Herbert Schiller).
18. The Coming Age of the Flesh Machine. Critical Art
Ensemble.
Part IV: Performing Identity in Cyberspace.
19. Will the Real Body Please Stand Up? Boundary Stories about
Virtual Encounters. (Allucquere Rosanne (Sandy) Stone).
20. A Rape in Cyberspace; or, How an Evil Clown, a Haitian
Trickster Spirit, Two Wizards, and a Cast of Dozens Turned a
Database into a Society. (Julian Dibbell).
21. Women & Children First: Gender and the Settling of the
Electronic Frontier. (Laura Miller).
22. We're Teen, We're Queer and We've Got E-mail. (Steve
Silberman).
23. Race In/ For Cyberspace: Identity Tourism and Racial Passing
on the Internet. (Lisa Nakamura).
24. Who Am We? (Sherry Turkle).
Part V: Searching for Community Online.
25. Collective Intelligence. (Pierre Levy).
26. Cyber Democracy: The Internet and the Public Sphere. (Mark
Poster).
27. The Virtual Community. (Howard Rheingold).
28. The Virtual Barrio @ the Other Frontier. (Guillermo
Gomez-Pena).
29. A Disappearance of Community. (Avital Ronell).
Part VI: Reading Digital Culture.
30. History, Theory and Virtual Reality. (Robert Markley).
31. The Seductions of Cyberspace. (N. Katherine Hayles).
32. New Age Mutant Ninja Hackers: Reading MONDO 2000. (Vivian
Sobchack).
33. Virtual Skin: Articulating Race in Cyberspace. (Cameron
Bailey).
34. Towards a New Media Aesthetic. (Timothy Allen Jackson).
35. The New Smartness. (Andrew Ross).
Index.
"Reading Digital Culture reminds its readers that technology cannot
be analyzed outside of the realms of power, politics, the social,
and democracy. This is a breakthrough book for anyone who wants to
understand and critically engage, rather than merely praise, those
pedagogical, technological, and communicative forces that are
shaping the twenty-first century. A must read." Henry Giroux,
Pennsylvania State University.
"This is an absorbing and fascinating anthology that is sure to
become a classic. It should be required reading for anyone hopeful
of understanding, at a deep and profound level, the essences of
contemporary digital thought from its leading thinkers. This
compilation provokes fresh insights that make it a major
contribution to the field." Lynn Hershman, University of
California, Davis.
"Anyone teaching classes in subjects that intersect with digital
culture will be grateful to Trend for this compilation. It contains
many classic texts essential for those pursuing digital art
production or critique of our technological world. Reading these
texts will help raise awareness that creative work with digital
media generates many issues and responsibilities." Victoria
Vesna, University of California, Los Angeles.
"This collection of some 35 essays and excerpts, edited by David
Trend, comprises significant writings on digital culture. The
material is an important resource for cultural studies. Trend's
selection and structuring along with his introductory notes for
each section make this a valuable and unique assemblage." Times
Higher Education Supplement
be analyzed outside of the realms of power, politics, the social,
and democracy. This is a breakthrough book for anyone who wants to
understand and critically engage, rather than merely praise, those
pedagogical, technological, and communicative forces that are
shaping the twenty-first century. A must read." Henry Giroux,
Pennsylvania State University.
"This is an absorbing and fascinating anthology that is sure to
become a classic. It should be required reading for anyone hopeful
of understanding, at a deep and profound level, the essences of
contemporary digital thought from its leading thinkers. This
compilation provokes fresh insights that make it a major
contribution to the field." Lynn Hershman, University of
California, Davis.
"Anyone teaching classes in subjects that intersect with digital
culture will be grateful to Trend for this compilation. It contains
many classic texts essential for those pursuing digital art
production or critique of our technological world. Reading these
texts will help raise awareness that creative work with digital
media generates many issues and responsibilities." Victoria
Vesna, University of California, Los Angeles.
"This collection of some 35 essays and excerpts, edited by David
Trend, comprises significant writings on digital culture. The
material is an important resource for cultural studies. Trend's
selection and structuring along with his introductory notes for
each section make this a valuable and unique assemblage." Times
Higher Education Supplement
David Trend is Director of the University of California's Institute for Research on the Arts, which funds projects through the ten-campus University of California system. He is also Chair of Studio Art at the University of California, Irvine. Former long-time editor of The Socialist Review, Trend is author or editor of a number of books, including Radical Democracy: Identity, Citizenship and the State (1996).