In the twenty-first century, a network society is emerging. Fragmented, visually saturated, characterized by rapid technological change and constant social upheavals, it is dizzying, excessive, and sometimes surreal. In this breathtaking work, Steven Shaviro investigates popular culture, new technologies, political change, and community disruption and concludes that science fiction and social reality have become virtually indistinguishable. Connected is made up of a series of mini-essays-on cyberpunk, hip-hop, film noir, ...
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In the twenty-first century, a network society is emerging. Fragmented, visually saturated, characterized by rapid technological change and constant social upheavals, it is dizzying, excessive, and sometimes surreal. In this breathtaking work, Steven Shaviro investigates popular culture, new technologies, political change, and community disruption and concludes that science fiction and social reality have become virtually indistinguishable. Connected is made up of a series of mini-essays-on cyberpunk, hip-hop, film noir, Web surfing, greed, electronic surveillance, pervasive multimedia, psychedelic drugs, artificial intelligence, evolutionary psychology, and the architecture of Frank Gehry, among other topics. Shaviro argues that our strange new world is increasingly being transformed in ways, and by devices, that seem to come out of the pages of science fiction, even while the world itself is becoming a futuristic landscape. The result is that science fiction provides the most useful social theory, the only form that manages to be as radical as reality itself. Connected looks at how our networked environment has manifested itself in the work of J. G. Ballard, William S. Burroughs, Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, K. W. Jeter, and others. Shaviro focuses on science fiction not only as a form of cultural commentary but also as a prescient forum in which to explore the forces that are morphing our world into a sort of virtual reality game. Original and compelling, Connected shows how the continual experimentation of science fiction, like science and technology themselves, conjures the invisible social and economic forces that surround us.
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This is an ex-library book and may have the usual library/used-book markings inside. This book has soft covers. In good all round condition. Please note the Image in this listing is a stock photo and may not match the covers of the actual item, 450grams, ISBN: 9780816643639.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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When first openning this book, I was a bit unsettled by the lack of of Table of Contents and clearly laid out chapters. However, looking back, this would have completely hindered the text's content. Connected brings about many topics, through many references and allusions, in a continuous flow that could not easily be marked by chapter titles and divisions.
Through in-depth discussion of writings and lyrics from Phillip K. Dick to music artist Beck, Shaviro brings about both awareness and concerns in regards to the post-modern networked society. While the book is technically a series a short essays, all able to stand alone, they often reference each other, the same works, or the same topics. In this way, the text itself can be seen as a self-contained network, with each essay being a single node, working with the others, to make up the complete book.
While Shaviro doesn't necessarilly establish any strong theories or philosophies unique to this text, the way he manages to bring together analyses of various other documents not only gives the reader more insight into these specific works, but also gives us a greater awareness of the overwhelming embodiment that is the network.
