Ventriloquism, the art of "seeming to speak where one is not," speaks so resonantly to our contemporary technological condition. We now think nothing of hearing voices--our own and others'--propelled over intercoms, cellphones, and answering machines. Yet, why can none of us hear our own recorded voice without wincing? Why is the telephone still full of such spookiness and erotic possibility? And why does the magician's trick of speaking through a dummy entertain as well as disturb us? These are the kind of questions which impel Dumbstruck, Steven Connor's wide-ranging, relentlessly...
Ventriloquism, the art of "seeming to speak where one is not," speaks so resonantly to our contemporary technological condition. We now think nothing ...
Offering a comprehensive introduction to postmodernism, this Companion features examinations of the different aspects of postmodernist thought and culture that have had a significant effect on contemporary critical thought. Topics discussed by experts in the field include postmodernism's relation to modernity, and its significance and relevance to literature, film, law, philosophy, and modern cultural studies. Additional material includes a guide to further reading and a chronology.
Offering a comprehensive introduction to postmodernism, this Companion features examinations of the different aspects of postmodernist thought and cul...
Offering a comprehensive introduction to postmodernism, this Companion features examinations of the different aspects of postmodernist thought and culture that have had a significant effect on contemporary critical thought. Topics discussed by experts in the field include postmodernism's relation to modernity, and its significance and relevance to literature, film, law, philosophy, and modern cultural studies. Additional material includes a guide to further reading and a chronology.
Offering a comprehensive introduction to postmodernism, this Companion features examinations of the different aspects of postmodernist thought and cul...
Skin, Steven Connor argues, has never been more visible. "The Book of Skin explores the multiple functions of the skin in the cultures of the West. In this vividly illustrated book, Connor draws on evidence from a variety of sources including literary and other forms of public and private writing, especially medical texts, as well as painting, photography, and film, folklore and popular song. Because of its newfound visibility, skin has never been at once so manifest and so in jeopardy as it is today. This dilemma becomes evident, in Connor's view, if we examine how skin is displayed and...
Skin, Steven Connor argues, has never been more visible. "The Book of Skin explores the multiple functions of the skin in the cultures of the West. In...
Few creatures are as universally despised as flies. Blamed for pestilence and plagues, they were publicly excommunicated from the medieval church. Beelzebub, the lord of the flies, was said to be the embodiment of evil, and, for centuries, flies were considered the result of spontaneous generation the unnatural consequence of rotting meat. Fly explores the history of this much-maligned creature and then turns to examine its newfound redemption through science. The secrets of the fly s versatile powers of flight, Steven Connor reveals, are only beginning to be understood and...
Few creatures are as universally despised as flies. Blamed for pestilence and plagues, they were publicly excommunicated from the medieval church. Bee...
Dream Machines is a history of imaginary machines and the ways in which machines come to be imagined. It considers seven different kinds of speculative, projected or impossible machine: machines for teleportation, dream-production, sexual pleasure and medical treatment and cure, along with ‘influencing machines’, invisibility machines and perpetual motion machines. The process of imagining ideal or impossible forms of machinery tends backwards or inwards, allowing a way for imagination itelf to be conceived as a kind of machinery, or ingenious engineering. Machines...
Dream Machines is a history of imaginary machines and the ways in which machines come to be imagined. It considers seven different kinds o...