Love and Other Technologies: Retrofitting Eros for the Information Age PDF
Preview Love and Other Technologies: Retrofitting Eros for the Information Age
Loveand Other Technologies .................16234$ $$FM 10-19-0610:43:11 PS PAGEi .................16234$ $$FM 10-19-0610:43:11 PS PAGEii Love and Other Technologies Retrofitting Eros for the Information Age Dominic Pettman fordham university press new york 2006 .................16234$ $$FM 10-19-0610:43:12 PS PAGEiii Copyright(cid:2)2006FordhamUniversityPress Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced, storedinaretrievalsystem,ortransmittedinanyformorbyany means—electronic,mechanical,photocopy,recording,orany other—exceptforbriefquotationsinprintedreviews,withoutthe priorpermissionofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Pettman,Dominic. Loveandothertechnologies:retrofittingerosforthe informationage/DominicPettman.—1sted. p. cm. Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN-13:978-0-832-2668-9(cloth:alk.paper) ISBN-10:8232-2668-9(cloth:alk.paper) ISBN-13:978-08232-2669-6(pbk.:alk.paper) ISBN-10:0-8232-2669-7(pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Love. 2.Technology. 3.Civilization,Modern—21st century. I.Title. BD436.P425 2006 128(cid:2).46—dc22 2006032362 PrintedintheUnitedStatesofAmerica 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1 Firstedition .................16234$ $$FM 10-19-0610:43:12 PS PAGEiv contents Acknowledgments vii Preface ix Introduction 1 1. LoveandOtherTechnologies 16 2. TheStorableFutureandtheStoredPast 42 3. IntheArtificialGardensofEden-Olympia 70 4. FacingtheInterface 84 5. ‘‘HowWasItForMe?’’Not-SeeingtheNon-Spacesof Pornography 108 6. ASelfofOne’sOwn? 129 7. MindtheGap 159 8. AsymptoticEncounters:LoveFreedfromItself 179 Conclusion:OfMiceandMultitudes 198 Notes 209 WorksCited 237 Index 251 .................16234$ CNTS 10-19-0610:43:13 PS PAGEv .................16234$ CNTS 10-19-0610:43:14 PS PAGEvi acknowledgments Thisbookcameinfitsandspurtsoverasix-yearperiod,from2000toearly 2006.DuringthistimeItaughtinseveraldifferentenvironmentsandinsti- tutions; and in a sense, this project was one of the only tangible elements whichgaveasenseofcontinuitytomydailylife,threadingitsproble´matique through the streets of Melbourne, Geneva, Amsterdam, and New York. I am not in a position to tell whether these different places—and more importantly, the people I encountered—have any noticeable influence on differentpassagesorchapters.WhatIdoknowforcertainisthatitisimpos- sible to rethink the concepts of love, community, and technology without exposing oneself to nearly lethal doses of each. And for this reason, I’d liketoacknowledgethosewhowittingly,unwittingly,orevendespitetheir expresswisheshadanimpactonthefollowingpages. Wlad Godzich, Rick Waswo, Thomas Elsaesser, Simon During, Steven Shaviro, Carl Skelton, Sumita Chakravarty, and McKenzie Wark acted as patrons, benefactors, mentors, coconspirators, and intellectual inspiration. PierreGrosjean, DrehliRobnik,GabuHeindl,WandaStrauven,Ria Tha- nouli,andMalteHagenerprovidedvodka-infusedcompanionshipandlucid arguments to my more half-baked assertions. Justin Clemens, Karolina Krebs, Eddie Maloney, Dan Ross, David Odell, and Carrie Olivia Adams all deserve special mentions for the very different ways in which they em- body the more utopian possibilities which lie latent in each moment (and becausetheyemailmealot). An earlier version of the Introduction was published in Parachute, no. 101,2001. Thisresearch wasfirst undertakenin theEnglish withCultural Studies Department, University of Melbourne, where I am currently an HonoraryFellow. vii .................16234$ $ACK 10-19-0610:43:22 PS PAGEvii viii Acknowledgments MyendlessgratitudegoestoHelenTartarforherlong-terminterestand faithinmymanuscript,aswellastheanonymousreaders,whosesharp-eyed andilluminatingfeedbackhelpedrefinethefinalproduct. Finally, my greatest thanks go to Merritt, who on a daily basis reminds mewhyloveissuchacrucialconceptforusalltofacehead-on. .................16234$ $ACK 10-19-0610:43:22 PS PAGEviii preface: a new kind of love In Hermann Broch’s 1931 novel, The Anarchist, the protagonist, August Esch,wandersthroughthehallowedhallsoftheheadofficesoftheCentral Rhine Shipping Company, having recently accepted a job there as an ac- countant.Hestopsshortuponreadingawoman’snameononeoftheseem- inglyendlessofficedoorsand feltasuddendesirefortheunknownwomanbehindthedoor,andtherearosein himtheconceptionofanewkindoflove,asimple,onemightalmostsaya business-likeandofficialkindoflove,alovethatwouldrunassmoothly,as calmly,andyetasspaciouslyandnever-endingly,asthesecorridorswiththeir polishedlinoleum.(59) This‘‘newkindoflove’’isnotonlyhatchedintheheartofEschbutlinked to a world-historicalcondition via an experiencewe could dub, witha nod to Kafka, the bureaucratic sublime. It is a cold love. A smooth love. Bal- ancedinthesamefashion,andaccordingtothesameprinciples,ascompany accounts. AsBrochmakesclear,insomeobscurewaythisnewkindofloveislinked togenderandcanquicklyswitchintoadifferentmode: Butthenhesawthelongseriesofdoorswithmen’snames,andhecouldnot helpthinkingthatalonewomaninthatmasculineenvironmentmustbeasdis- gustedwithitasMotherHentjenwaswithherbusiness.Ahatredofcommercial methodsstirredagainwithinhim,hatredofanorganizationthat,behinditsap- parentorderliness,itssmoothcorridors,itssmoothandflawlessbook-keeping, concealedallmannerofinfamies.Andthatwascalledrespectability!(Ibid.) Andso,ontheonehand,wehavethatancientprinciple‘‘love,’’andonthe other, we have a new genus, perhaps a genetically modified strain, devel- ix .................16234$ PREF 10-19-0610:43:26 PS PAGEix
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