Virus as Hermeneutic

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 687-711
Author(s):  
Nick Admussen
Keyword(s):  
Literary Texts ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Deleuze And Guattari ◽  
Social Constraint ◽  
The Past

This essay theorizes the potential uses and limitations of describing a text as “viral.” Literary texts are often described as viral when they serve as tools of self-expression for those who reproduce them: viral texts must therefore delete or suppress qualities that mark them as alien, and emphasize qualities that identify them with those who might repeat them. As they circulate, viruses span and connect social and intellectual lineages through rhizomatic motion, as described by Deleuze and Guattari. These concepts provide an occasion for a rereading of the contemporary circulation of the poetry of Gu Cheng 顾城, whose verse and biography have circulated widely and been intensively transformed in the past thirty years. The partial and mutated versions of his life and verse that circulate via film, television, print, calligraphy, and especially the Internet produce a shared fantasy of a “free” poet whose genius excludes him from social constraint, and who deserves and enjoys the limitless adoration of women. This fantasy is made circulable in part by suppressing the experience of his wife, Xie Ye 谢烨, whom he killed in 1993, a deletion whose marks are clearly visible in a historicized analysis of popular treatments of their story. On the strength of Deleuze and Guat-tari’s argument that the rhizome cannot be encompassed but instead only extended through rupture, the essay then reads Xie Ye’s prose compositions “Games” and “Your Name Is Little Mu’er,” finding them to contain stories that can travel and concepts whose circulation may contribute to antipatri-archal goals. The piece concludes by arguing that the metaphor of the virus reveals the position of the scholar who reproduces texts for study, and that thinking through the virus implicates scholars in the ethics and pragmatics of spreading texts.

Food and the Imaginary Other

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irina Perianova
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Food Item ◽  
Symbolic Capital ◽  
The Other ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Past

The article considers a number of food-related topics and uses examples from a wide variety of sources, ranging from literary texts through journalistic articles to posts on the internet. Special attention is paid to “real” and imaginary food travels, which have become a fascinating topic of research in our time. Food controversies are also touched upon. It is argued that foreign foods may have mostly been a source of disgust in the past but have subsequently acquired symbolic capital and consuming them has come to be interpreted as a sign of sophistication. Also, food can be said to represent, in many ways, a new discursive currency, which may signal a desired or unwanted identity. In a lot of cases, however, the “original” of a particular food item may not exist and what is provided for consumption is a simulacrum. Cases of nostalgia for the food of the past are approached from this angle. Overall, the article aims at presenting the diverse cultural landscape of the present of which the food of the Other is an integral part.

Ale na razie tu cisza” – fotografie sprzed katastrofy w wybranych zapisach literackich (Stefan Chwin, Ryszard Kapuściński, Wisława Szymborska)

2020 ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Magdalena Strąk
Keyword(s):  
Time Perspective ◽  
Terrorist Attack ◽  
First World War ◽  
General Concept ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
World War ◽  
The Past ◽  
The First World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
First World

The work aims to show a peculiar perspective of looking at photographs taken on the eve of the broadly understood disaster, which is specified in a slightly different way in each of the literary texts (Stefan Chwin’s autobiographical novel Krótka historia pewnego żartu [The brief history of a certain joke], a poem by Ryszard Kapuściński Na wystawie „Fotografia chłopów polskich do 1944 r.” [At an exhibition “The Polish peasants in photographs to 1944”] and Wisława Szymborska’s Fotografia z 11 września [Photograph from September 11]) – as death in a concentration camp, a general concept of the First World War or a terrorist attack. Upcoming tragic events – of which the photographed people are not yet aware – become for the subsequent recipient an inseparable element of reality contained in the frame. For the later observers, privileged with time perspective, the characters captured in the photograph are already victims of the catastrophe, which in reality was not yet recorded by the camera. It is a work about coexistence of the past and future in the field of photography.

Wages for Soundwork

Resonance ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 191-210
Author(s):  
Joshua Hudelson
Keyword(s):  
Panic Attacks ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Close Reading ◽  
Financial Independence ◽  
Reproductive Labor ◽  
The Past ◽  
Labor Power ◽  
Sales Clerks

Over the past decade, ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) has emerged from whisper-quiet corners of the Internet to become a bullhorn of speculation on the human sensorium. Many consider its sonically induced “tingling” to be an entirely novel, and potentially revolutionary, form of human corporeality—one surprisingly effective in combating the maladies of a digitally networked life: insomnia, anxiety, panic attacks, and depression. Complicating these claims, this article argues that ASMR is also neoliberal repackaging of what Marx called the reproduction of labor power. Units of these restorative “tingles” are exchanged for micro-units of attention, which YouTube converts to actual currency based on per-1,000-view equations. True to the claims of Silvia Federici and Leopoldina Fortunati, this reproductive labor remains largely the domain of women. From sweet-voiced receptionists to fawning sales clerks (both of whom are regularly role-played by ASMRtists), sonic labor has long been a force in greasing the gears of capital. That it plays a role in production is a matter that ASMRtists are often at pains to obscure. The second half of this article performs a close reading of what might be considered the very first ASMR film: Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles. Through this film, the exploitative dimensions of ASMR can be contrasted with its potential for creating protected spaces of financial independence and nonnormative corporeal practices.

Courting the Youth Vote in 2008: The Obama Effect

2009 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsey C Bohl
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Elections ◽  
Voter Registration ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Past ◽  
Several Variables ◽  
High Turnout ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Youth Vote

This paper examines a few of the numerous factors that may have led to increased youth turnout in 2008 Election. First, theories of voter behavior and turnout are related to courting the youth vote. Several variables that are perceived to affect youth turnout such as party polarization, perceived candidate difference, voter registration, effective campaigning and mobilization, and use of the Internet, are examined. Over the past 40 years, presidential elections have failed to engage the majority of young citizens (ages 18-29) to the point that they became inclined to participate. This trend began to reverse starting in 2000 Election and the youth turnout reached its peak in 2008. While both short and long-term factors played a significant role in recent elections, high turnout among youth voters in 2008 can be largely attributed to the Obama candidacy and campaign, which mobilized young citizens in unprecedented ways.

The evolution of the Internet of Things (IoT) over the past 20 years

2021 ◽  
Vol 155 ◽  
pp. 107174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jianxin Wang ◽  
Ming K. Lim ◽  
Chao Wang ◽  
Ming-Lang Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Internet Of Things

scholarly journals Beads, Pixels, and Nkisi: Contemporary Kinois Art and Reconfigurations of the Virtual

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Katrien Pype
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Phone ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Transformations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Art Works ◽  
Stereotypical Image

AbstractIn the 2016 Abiola Lecture, Mbembe argued that “the plasticity of digital forms speaks powerfully to the plasticity of African precolonial cultures and to ancient ways of working with representation and mediation, of folding reality.” In her commentary, Pype tries to understand what “speaking powerfully to” can mean. She first situates the Abiola Lecture within a wide range of exciting and ongoing scholarship that attempts to understand social transformations on the continent since the ubiquitous uptake of the mobile phone, and its most recent incarnation, the smartphone. She then analyzes the aesthetics of artistic projects by Alexandre Kyungu, Yves Sambu, and Hilaire Kuyangiko Balu, where wooden doors, tattoos, beads, saliva, and nails correlate with the Internet, pixels, and keys of keyboards and remote controls. Finally, Pype asks to whom the congruence between the aesthetics of a “precolonial” Congo and the digital speaks. In a society where “the past” is quickly demonized, though expats and the commercial and political elite pay thousands of dollars for the discussed art works, Pype argues that this congruence might be one more manifestation of capitalism’s cannibalization of a stereotypical image of “Africa.”

Library Internet Resources: Conducting Performing Arts Research Online

1999 ◽  
Vol 40 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-104
Author(s):  
Susan Brady
Keyword(s):  
World Wide Web ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Performing Arts ◽  
World Wide ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Research Libraries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Internet Resources ◽  
The World ◽  
Electronic Access

Over the past decade academic and research libraries throughout the world have taken advantage of the enormous developments in communication technology to improve services to their users. Through the Internet and the World Wide Web researchers now have convenient electronic access to library catalogs, indexes, subject bibliographies, descriptions of manuscript and archival collections, and other resources. This brief overview illustrates how libraries are facilitating performing arts research in new ways.

scholarly journals How the Lifestyle Leaders View and Manage Medications

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 611-612
Author(s):  
Taylor Patskanick ◽  
Julie Miller
Keyword(s):  
Side Effects ◽  
Medication Management ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Prescription Medication ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Prescription Medications ◽  
Over The Counter ◽  
Attitudes And Behaviors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Drug Companies

Abstract Medication management is an ongoing consideration for adults ages 85 and older, their caregivers, and healthcare providers. When asked about their attitudes and behaviors regarding medication management, over 73% of the Lifestyle Leaders reported taking 3+ prescription medications daily and managing their own medication regimes. 61.9% of participants had taken over-the-counter, non-prescription medication for pain over the past five years. When asked why some participants didn’t currently take prescription medications to manage pain, the most frequently-reported responses were: “I don’t feel that my pain warrants a prescription medication,” (19%, n=8), “I don’t want to deal with the side effects,” and “I don’t trust drug companies,” (9.5%, n=4, respectively). The Lifestyle Leaders reported they would be most likely to go to the internet (over their local pharmacist) to ask for advice about their medication(s). Meanwhile, 39% of Lifestyle Leaders would trust a robot to manage their medication(s) for them.

What is a Classic in History?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-38
Author(s):  
Jaume Aurell
Keyword(s):  
Literary Texts ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
Historical Criticism ◽  
Historical Texts ◽  
The Past ◽  
Science And Art ◽  
Historical Text ◽  
Historical Condition ◽  
Historical Writings ◽  
Narrative Language

Abstract What is the classic in history? What is a classic in historical writing? Very few historians and critics have addressed these questions, and when they have done so, it has been only in a cursory manner. These are queries that require some explanation regarding historical texts because of their peculiar ambivalence between science and art, content and form, sources and imagination, scientific and narrative language. Based on some examples of the Western historiographical tradition, I discuss in this article to what extent historians should engage the concept of the classic – as has been done for literary texts. If one assumes that the historical text is not only a referential account but also a narrative analogous to literary texts, then the concept of the classic becomes one of the keys for understanding the historical text – and may improve our understanding not only of historiography, but of history itself. I will argue in this article that it is possible to identify a category of the classic text in some historical writings, precisely because of the literarity they possess without losing their specific historical condition. Because of their narrative condition, historical texts share some of the features assigned to literary texts – that is, endurance, timelessness, universal meaningfulness, resistance to historical criticism, susceptibility to multiple interpretations, and ability to function as models. Yet, since historical texts do not construct imaginary worlds but reflect external realities, they also have to achieve some specific features according to this referential content – that is, surplus of meaning, historical use of metaphors, effect of contemporaneity without damaging the pastness of the past, and a certain appropriation of literariness. Without seeking to be normative or systematic, this article focuses on some specific features of the historical classic, offering a series of reflections to open rather than try to close a debate on this complex topic.

scholarly journals Innovative Experiment Platform Design and Teaching Application of the Internet of Things

2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ken Cai ◽  
Fenglian Tie ◽  
Haoran Huang ◽  
Hanhui Lin ◽  
Huazhou Chen
Keyword(s):  
Internet Of Things ◽  
Graduate Programs ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Synthetic Experiment ◽  
Experiment Platform ◽  
The Past ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Practice Teaching ◽  
The Internet Of Things ◽  
Teaching Experiments

By analyzing the current situation of experimental platforms which is based on the Internet of Things (IOT) and the cultivation of talents, we established the talents' cultivating orientation and experiment platform for innovation. In accordance with the requirements of a students' practical and creative ability curriculum, the method of modularization was adopted to design this platform. With this, the platform can basically satisfy the needs of the varying teaching experiments, which can increase opportunities for the students on their comprehensive application. The platform was widely used in experimental and practice teaching in the past three years, such as synthetic experiment, graduate programs, and practice project in Zhongkai University of Agriculture and Engineering, Guilin University of Technology etc. Result shows that the innovation experimental platform has broad application prospects, and effectiveness to meet the requirements of students' in-depth learning and research of IOT technologies. Meanwhile, the platform expanded the students' basic understanding of IOT and improved their innovation.

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