Optical media is the most engaging and accessible of friedrich kittlers books. It explores the connections between marxs commodity fetish and how kittler posits human beings as components of an information system alongside technologies and. It is breezy, has an offthecuff tone, and is generally free of the distinctive, pithy, and forbidding prose style. Kittler friedrich optical media pdf martin heidegger mass. We are the subjects of gadgets and instruments of mechanical data. Solidified by the invention of the camera, our images have separated the observer from the observed, the mind from the body, allowing for what has been considered a neutral observation. Ever since completed buildings began appearing like scale factors of computeraided design, by which these buildings were designed on a miniature. Oct 21, 2011 the eclectic german poststructuralist philosopher and media theorist friedrich kittler, who has died aged 68, once wrote. Human material in the communication of capital pdf. Any consideration of the evolution of media necessarily must account for productions of such schemas. Friedrich adolf kittler was born in 1943 in rochlitz in saxony. The purpose of this article is to interrogate marxs analysis of the circulation of capital through the new materialist communications and media theory of friedrich kittler. In playing at narratology daniel punday bridges the worlds of digital media studies and narrative studies by arguing that digital media allows us to see unresolved tensions, ambiguities, and gaps in core narrative concepts.
Friedrich kittlers lecture series provides a concise history of optical media from renaissance linear perspective to late twentiethcentury computer graphics. Jan 31, 2017 kittler remarks that the development of new media does not make old media obsolete, but rather reassigns the old media to other places. Optical media provides an accessible introduction to the media theory of kittler s middle period as it applies primar ily to the optical realm. The emergence of postmedia aesthetics and hybrid media culture marked by media convergence as well as diachronic and synchronic hybridization has resulted in an ongoing reevaluation, re. Software has replaced a diverse array of physical, mechanical, and electronic technologies used before 21st century to create, store, distribute and interact with cultural artifacts. Kittler begins by looking at european painting since the renaissance in order to discern the principles according to which modern optical perception was organized. The clinic was attached to the university of tubingen and the poet justinus kerner, then a student of medicine, was assigned to look after holderlin. Friedrich kittler the history of communication media. Friedrich kittler s lecture series provides a concise history of optical media from renaissance linear perspective to late twentiethcentury computer graphics. Friedrich kittler 19432011 was a literary and media scientist medienwissenschaftler. From the invention of geometrical perspective onwards images have, in a western context, been characterised by a specific politics and epistemological ambition. In the context of todays cameras, smartphones and computers, images are becoming a variety of different things, that also seem to unfold more clearly than ever beyond the realm of the visible.
And since these cells in the last three decades have shrunk to spatial. German studies, friedrich kittler, media theory, posthumanism. According to the media theoretician friedrich kittler, all technical media either stores, transmits, or processes. Polity, 2010 for an overview of friedrich kittlers media theory. Kittler friedrich optical media pdf martin heidegger. He begins by looking at european painting since the renaissance in order to discern the principles according to which modern optical perception was organised. Software takes command by bloomsbury publishing issuu. In an interview with john armitage published in 2006, kittler spoke of his stratagem for speaking his mind.
Luhmann, and the posthuman merger of german media theory, in yale. Optical media may be friedrich kittlers best book for the uniniti ated. By which is meant that kittler first posits the existence. Kittler friedrich optical media pdf martin heidegger mass media. In his study optical media, kittler observes that film distinguishes itself from photography in that the senders finished product the film in reels is entirely useless if a projector with precisely the same specifi. This major new book provides a concise history of optical media from renaissance linear perspective to late twentiethcentury computer graphics. The eclectic german poststructuralist philosopher and media theorist friedrich kittler, who has died aged 68, once wrote. Scribd is the worlds largest social reading and publishing site. Friedrich kittler is one of the leading figures in german media theory today.
Recall the fa mous pronouncement fr om friedrich kittler that all technical media either store things, transmit things, or process things. My work in literary criticism was not only a pretext but also a. His work spans analyses of historical discourse networks inspired by french poststructuralism, influential theorizations of new media, through to musings on music and mathematics. The camera obscura has a special relationship to linear perspective, the socalled. Fraunhofer institute of applied optics and precision engineering, a. Hegel, georg wilhelm friedrich, phonomenologie des geistes 1807 hrsg. His work has been at the cutting edge of media and literary studies for over 15 years with particular impact in the us, given which it is surprising that only. He is the author of numerous books and essays on literary criticism and media theory, including aufschreibesysteme 18001900 1985, which has.
By the early nineteenth century increased optical deceptions, like the phantasmagoria shows that could conjure up ghostly illusions, challenged biological and s. Friedrich kittler was one of the worlds most influential, provocative and misunderstood media theorists. Geoffrey winthropyoung, kittler and the media cambridge. Rather than developing new terms to account for webbased storytelling, punday uses established narrative forms to better understand how digital media exposes faulty gaps. Slightly anachronistically kittler transposes this as a model to understand media history. Film after new media focuses on german cinema and new media productions.
It starts out with a clear presentation of kittlersmediatheoretical premises and then offers a fascinating tour through the history of storing, manipulating and projecting light. Kittler, media and madness steven connor a lecture given at media matters. The history of media archaeology has been a history of discourseoriented analysis. An invitation n angela piccini university of bristol, uk when members of the committee for audiovisual scholarship and practice in archaeology caspar decided to participate in a conference on media archaeology held in bradford, uk in september 2014, they saw this as an opportunity to dispel familiar stories about what. Friedrich kittler, the intellectual father of media archaeology, inspired a focus in the materiality of the medium from the early 1980s onwards to lay bare the epistemological structures underpinning. Kittler, luhmann, and the posthuman merger of german media theory, yale. Jan 16, 20 a short introduction to ideas in the first chapter of friedrich kittler s optical media. Human material in the communication of capital pdf paperity. Three years after his death friedrich kittlers impact on the humanities and media studies remains a topic of interest to scholars worldwide. Optical media may be friedrich kittler s best book for the uninitiated. Kittler friedrich optical media pdf free ebook download as pdf file. In kittlers scheme of things, technological media and psychoanalysis thus compete for literatures legacy, trying to take on the various information processing tasks and cultural memory mandates that used to be literatures monopoly. Kittler also discusses the development of various mechanical devices, like. Friedrich kittler media ecologies by matthew fuller is, in one way, an analysis of the determinates of radio, telephones, cameras, surveillance, computational media, and.
Optical media provides an accessible introduction to the media theory of kittlers middle period as it applies primar ily to the optical realm. The media philosopher friedrich kittler, who, being a theorist, has dealt with the most varying aspects of the computer as the contemporary universal medium, once stated in a lecture. Cramer 2015 offers a list of perspectives which is more. The intellectual challenges presented by his theoretical work, however, are now complemented by the practical and archival. It is breezy, has an offthecuff tone, and is generally free of the distinctive, pithy, and forbidding prose style that is sometimes called kittlerdeutsch. Kittler friedrich optical media pdf pdf free download. Kittler, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Even german media theorist friedrich kittler confessed that it had taken him a long time to understand the precise meaning of the term armitage 1999, p.
Friedrich kittler media ecologies by matthew fuller is, in one way, an analysis of the determinates of radio, telephones, cameras, surveillance, computational media, and networks. Jan 01, 2002 kittler begins by looking at european painting since the renaissance in order to discern the principles according to which modern optical perception was organized. Put simply, optical media have from their inception been used to visualize the field of battle and hone the accuracy of ballistics. Postdigital rejects the idea of old and new media as existing together by blurring of the binary dualistic lines jandric et al.
Ulrike schulz, friedrich rickelt, henning ludwig, peter munzert and norbert kaiser. To be more precise, the thesis considers how the material and. Progress on the manufacture of optical coatings norbert kaiser. In the case of printing, this new media made copying books easier and faster, and allowed for easier data processing by numbering pages and having identical copies of the same edition of a particular book. Within each of the chapters i examine emerging technologies such as video, digital video, hdtv, videogames, and new technologies of distribution and storage, e. Friedrich kittler, the intellectual father of media archaeology, inspired a focus in the materiality of the medium from the early 1980s onwards to lay bare the epistemological structures underpinning studies in the humanities. Kittler remarks that the development of new media does not make old media obsolete, but rather reassigns the old media to other places. He nicely begins optical media with a reflection on the medium of the lecture a system made up of text and voice on the sending kittler optical media, ears and half as many hands on the receiving end, and not yet interrupted by visual media.
Symposion in memoriam friedrich kittler, zkm, karlsruhe, 1920 october 2012. The following year holderlin was discharged as incurable and given three years to live, but was taken in by the carpenter ernst zimmer a cultured man, who had read hyperion and given a room in his house in tubingen, which had been a tower in. The intellectual challenges presented by his theoretical work, however, are now complemented by the practical and archival difficulties of dealing with his personal digital legacy. Recall the fa mous pronouncement fr om friedrich kittler that all technical media either store things, transmit things, or. In kittler s scheme of things, technological media and psychoanalysis thus compete for literatures legacy, trying to take on the various information processing tasks and cultural memory mandates that used to be literatures monopoly. The bulk of written texts including this text do not exist anymore in perceivable time and space but in a computer memorys transistor cells. The video is an accompaniment to discussions in media. Just a decade ago, many within media and film studies wondered what media archaeology actually meant. There is no software friedrich kittler grammatologies of the present time have to start with a rather sad statement. A short introduction to ideas in the first chapter of friedrich kittlers optical media. If we take a more courageous step forward, and combine a kittlerian media. Reviewed by nicholas gane and hannes hansenmagnusson friedrich kittler is one of the leading.
Indeed, optical media is clearly interested in the development of institu tions. He also discusses the development of various mechanical devices, this major new book provides a concise history of optical media from renaissance linear perspective to late twentieth. His research focused on technical media technischen medien and cultural techniques kulturtechniken. Techne technology martin heidegger phenomenology philosophy. Optical media may be friedrich kittlers best book for the uninitiated. Featured audio all audio latest this just in grateful dead netlabels old time radio 78 rpms and cylinder recordings. Put simply, optical media have from their inception been used to visualize the. It starts out with a clear presentation of kittler smediatheoretical premises and then offers a fascinating tour through the history of storing, manipulating and projecting light. As the official reason for this revolution the argument was pressed into service that, in large nationstates, only chappes optical telegraph. Kittlers media histories matthew griffin friedrich a. Friedrich kittler s light shows john durham peters optical media may be friedrich kittler s best book for the uniniti ated.
Optical media berlin lectures 1999 polity 2012 see other formats. Friedrich kittler and technoculture, a conference on kittler, tate, london, 2728 june 2008. German paperback july 31, 2002 by friedrich kittler author. Kittler on the implementation of knowledge toward a theory of hardware. As kittler following from paul virilio 1989 has explained, optical media have been used to solve such problems as the aiming of ballistics as early as the sixteenth century kittler, 2010. The legal, social, and political dimensions of the prevailing programming structures are then only consequences of these technical solutions. Media archaeologies equinox ebooks publishing equinox. The radically subversive narrative of stereoscopic photography. Optical media is the most engaging and accessible of friedrich kittler s books.
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