scholarly journals Latour and Literary Studies

PMLA ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 737-742 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rita Felski
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Literary Studies ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Style Of Thought

I am interested in questions of reading and interpretation. I am also drawn to actor-network theory and the work of Bruno Latour. Can these attractions be brought into alignment? To what extent can a style of thought that describes itself as empiricist and rejects critique speak to the dominant concerns of literary studies? Can actor-network theory help us think more adequately about interpretation? Might it inspire us to become more generous readers? How do literary studies and Latourian thought engage, enlist, seduce, or speak past each other? What duels, rivalries, intrigues, appropriations, or love affairs will ensue?

Talking about Associations and Descriptions or a Short Story about Associology

2017 ◽  
pp. 220-233
Author(s):  
Beate Ochsner
Keyword(s):  
Short Story ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Human Actors ◽  
Agency And Structure

In 1999, Bruno Latour advocated for “abandoning what was wrong with ANT, that is ‘actor,' ‘network,' ‘theory' without forgetting the hyphen.” However, it seems that the “hyphen,” which brings with it the operation of hyphenating or connecting, was abandoned too quickly. If one investigates what something is by asking what it is meant as well as how it emerges, by (re-)tracing the strategy in materials in situated practices and sets of relations, and, by bypassing the distinction between agency and structure, one shifts from studying “what causes what” to describing “how things happen.” This perspective not only makes it necessary for us to clarify the changing positions and displacements of human and non-human actors in the assemblage, but, also question the role (the enrolment) of the researcher him/herself: What kind of “relation” connects the researcher to his/her research and associates him/her with the subject, how to prevent (or not) his/her own involvement, and, to what degree s/he ignores the relationality of his/her writing in a “sociology of association?”

From the Sacred to the Sacred Object

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edwin Sayes ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Social Thought ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Rene Girard ◽  
Michel Serres ◽  
Sacred Object ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

The philosophy of Bruno Latour has given us one of the most important statements on the part played by technology in the ordering of the human collective. Typically presented as a radical departure from mainstream social thought, Latour is not without his intellectual creditors: Michel Serres and, through him, René Girard. By tracing this development, we are led to understand better the relationship of Latour’s work, and Actor-Network Theory more generally, to traditional sociological concerns. By doing so we can also hope to understand better the role that objects play in structuring society.

scholarly journals A.I. in Religion, A.I. for Religion, A.I. and Religion: Towards a Theory of Religious Studies and Artificial Intelligence

Religions ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 401
Author(s):  
Randall Reed
Keyword(s):  
Artificial Intelligence ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
The New Testament

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used in a variety of fields and disciplines. Its promise is often seen in a variety of tasks, from playing games to driving cars. In this article, I will sketch a theory that opens the door to the use of artificial intelligence in the study of religion. Focusing on the work of Jonathan Z. Smith, I will show that if, following Smith, the study of religion is considered primarily an act of classification, it can be aided by narrow artificial intelligence that excels at classification and prediction. Then, using a web A.I. called EMMA to classify the New Testament texts as Pauline or non-Pauline as a toy example, I will explore the issues that occur in the application of A.I. Finally, I will turn to Bruno Latour and actor–network theory as a way to theorize the larger issues brought up by the productive use of artificial intelligence in the study of religion

Der Hiatus – zur Spiegelbildlichkeit der Forschungsprogramme Latours und Luhmanns

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Werner Vogd
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network

Zusammenfassung:In seinem Spätwerk „Enquête sur les modes d’existence“ bricht Bruno Latour mit der actor network theory bzw. erweitert diese in Richtung einer Theorie unterschiedlicher Sinn- bzw. Wertsphären, die auf den ersten Blick der von Luhmann entwickelten Theorie der funktionalen Differenzierung zu ähneln scheint. Dieser Beitrag stellt die Frage nach dem Verhältnis der beiden Theorieprogramme. Zunächst wird deutlich, dass zwei unterschiedliche Ausgangspunkte genommen werden. Latour beginnt beim Realismus naturalisierter Netzwerke, Luhmann bei der Reflexivität von Sinnprozessen. Wie auch immer, beide landen bei dem gleichen Bezugsproblem – der konditionierten Koproduktion –, das sie zur Erweiterung der Theorieanlage zwingt. Der von Latour mit den ‚Existenzweisen‘ entwickelte Lösungsversuch wird ausführlich vorgestellt. Am Beispiel der Felder ‚Religion‘ und ‚Wirtschaft‘ wird aufgezeigt, welche Einsichten hierdurch möglich werden. Latours und Luhmanns Zugänge erscheinen gewissermaßen spiegelbildlich, was sich nicht zuletzt auch in der unterschiedlichen Pointierung der Rolle des soziologischen Beobachters zeigt.

AGENCY IN COMPOSITIONAL WORKFLOW: HOW YOU WRITE AFFECTS WHAT YOU WRITE

Tempo ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (296) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Alan Barclay
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Musical Composition ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Compositional Process ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Comprehensive Account ◽  
Musical Creation

AbstractThe organising of tools, whether real or virtual, is an essential part of composition that is often overlooked. This article aims to generate a discussion about how a composer's working environment can permeate the compositional process and contribute to or inform their ideations. Central to this understanding, in terms of agency, has been to consider workflow as a subset of Actor–Network Theory. Here, a musical composition is viewed as a multiplicity of relationships between workflow and ideations, and suggests an expanded practice of musical creation that explores the various agencies that shape a composition. Nevertheless, this article is not intended as a comprehensive account, but only, as Bruno Latour would put it, ‘to add in a messy way to a messy account of a messy world’.

The Ethic of Diversity: Local Law and the Negotiation of Urban Norms

2008 ◽  
Vol 33 (04) ◽  
pp. 895-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mariana Valverde
Keyword(s):  
Network Theory ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Bruno Latour ◽  
Actor Network ◽  
Street Food ◽  
Normative Power ◽  
Local Law ◽  
Legal Processes ◽  
Urban Diversity

Toronto prides itself both on being diverse and on celebrating rather than merely tolerating diversity. Urban diversity has been studied by demographers, sociologists, and planners, but sociolegal analyses of the negotiation of diversity are scarce. The study described here has three elements: a study of the Toronto Licensing Tribunal, a challenge to the property standards by‐law, and a campaign to reform the rules governing street food. The key substantive finding of the research is that municipal legal processes, in a city that takes pride in its diversity, still work to effect and naturalize distinctly ethnocentric norms. The content of (some) norms is subject to revision but the normative power of law as such remains unchallenged. Methodologically, the article, inspired by Bruno Latour and Actor Network Theory, shows the usefulness of treating local legal processes as a series of networks in which nonhuman objects (such as weeds, courtroom Bibles, and hot dogs) can sometimes be protagonists of legal dramas rather than mere objects.

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