"Those Clunky Things You Have to Carry Around": Textual Materiality in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End.
This article analyzes textual materiality in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, a 2006 sf novel set in the near future. The theoretical impetus for the analysis is provided by N. Katherine Hayles's investigation of "the contemporary pressure toward dematerialization" caused by the growing popularity of di...
| Publicado en: | Science Fiction Studies Vol. 42; no. 3; pp. 458 - 483 |
|---|---|
| Autor principal: | |
| Formato: | Artículo |
| Publicado: |
University of California Press
Nov2015
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=110630366&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 110630366 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00917729 SFS jtl: Science Fiction Studies issn: 00917729 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Nov2015 vid: 42 iid: 3 pid: 414 pub: University of California Press artinfo: ui: 110630366 ppf: 458 ppct: 25 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.3MB tig: atl: "Those Clunky Things You Have to Carry Around": Textual Materiality in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End. aug: au: Kozioł, Słavomir su: Vinge, Vernor Rainbows End (Book) Hayles, N. Katherine Digitization Digital humanities sug: subj: Vinge, Vernor Rainbows End (Book) Hayles, N. Katherine Digitization Digital humanities ab: This article analyzes textual materiality in Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End, a 2006 sf novel set in the near future. The theoretical impetus for the analysis is provided by N. Katherine Hayles's investigation of "the contemporary pressure toward dematerialization" caused by the growing popularity of digital machines and the science of cybernetics, which, apart from influencing our understanding of the idea of the human, affects also our perception of textual embodiment. As a result, the materiality of books starts to be regarded as something expendable, an old-fashioned kind of interface with no meaning whatsoever. Disgreeing with this view of books, Hayles argues that textual materiality is one of their essential characteristics, as the physical form plays an important role in the cultural chain of these texts' production, assimilation, and influence. Taking into account works by Hayles and other writers dealing with book history, editing, archival science, and the digital revolution in general, the article proceeds to analyze, first, the conflict over digitization of an academic library as depicted in Vinge's novel, and second, the creative crisis that the main character--a poet--experiences as a result. Ultimately, it is argued, the relationship among author, text, and reader, as presented in the novel, illuminates debates about textual materiality taking place in contemporary digital-humanities scholarship. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Science Fiction Studies is the property of University of California Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Science Fiction Studies holder: University of California Press dt: @attributes: year: 2015 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
|---|