Postprint: Books and Becoming Computational PDF
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Pos tprint Books and Becoming Computational N. Katherine Hayles Postprint THE WELLEK LIBRARY LECTURES THE WELLEK LIBRARY LECTURES The Wellek Library Lectures in Critical Theory are given annually at the University of California, Irvine, under the auspices of UCI Critical Th eory. The following lectures were given in May 2016. UCI Critical Theory James A. Steintrager, Director For a complete list of titles, see page 231 N. Katherine Hayles Postprint Books and Becoming Computational Columbia University Press New York Columbia University Press Publishers Since 1893 New York Chichester, West Sussex cup . columbia . edu Copyright © 2021 Columbia University Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data Names: Hayles, N. Katherine, 1943– author. Title: Postprint : books and becoming computational / N. Katherine Hayles. Description: New York : Columbia University Press, [2020] | Series: The Wellek Library lectures | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2020022410 (print) | LCCN 2020022411 (ebook) | ISBN 9780231198240 (hardcover) | ISBN 9780231198257 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9780231552554 (ebook) Subjects: LCSH: Book industries and trade—Technological innovations. | Book industries and trade—Social aspects. | Digital media—Social aspects. | Cognition. | Communication and technology. Classification: LCC Z278 .H39 2020 (print) | LCC Z278 (ebook) | DDC 302.23/1—dc23 LC record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2020022410 LC ebook record available at https:// lccn . loc . gov / 2020022411 Columbia University Press books are printed on permanent and durable acid-f ree paper. Printed in the United States of America Cover image: Digital composite Cover design: Lisa Hamm Contents LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS(cid:2)VII ACKNOWLEDGMENTS(cid:2)IX 1 Introducing Postprint 1 2 Print Into Postprint 41 3 The Mixed Ecologies of University Presses 87 4 Postprint and Cognitive Contagion 133 5 Bookishness at the Limits: Resiting the Human 171 Epilogue: Picturing the Asemic 189 NOTES(cid:2)191 BIBLIOGRAPHY(cid:2)211 INDEX(cid:2)219 Illustrations 2.1a and 2.1b. Jacquard cards used to produce the “Coquette” label and the label 45 2.2. Pages from Livre de prières 46 2.3. Front view of the Paige Compositor 47 2.4. Rear view of the Paige Compositor 48 2.5. Side view of the Paige Compositor 48 2.6. Reproduction of a page from Paige’s patent application 51 2.7. Section of type disc, Lumitype phototypesetter 56 2.8. Commercial version of Lumitype/Photon 59 2.9a. Top view, fiber- optic bundle 63 2.9b, 2.9c. View of fiber-o ptic bundle input and output 63 2.10a, 2.10b. Page and image from The Wonderful World of Insects 65 2.11. Xerox DocuTech 128HLC 69 5.1. Cover image of Between Page and Screen 173 5.2a, 5.2b. Composite screen shot from Between Page and Screen 173 5.3. Screen shot showing “spinto” projection from Between Page and Screen 176 5.4. Mirtha Dermisache, plate 1 in Selected Writings 181 5.5. Mirtha Dermisache, plate 5 in Selected Writings 184 5.6. Mirtha Dermisache, plate 12 in Selected Writings 185 6.1. Nick Sergeant, “The Human Stain” 190 Acknowledgments T his book has been catalyzed by two major forces: my life- long love of books and my intellectual engagement with the concept of cognitive assemblages. Growing up in very small town in northeast Missouri (population 1,014), I had few resources to satisfy my curiosity about the world, nature, and science— no theater, no symphonies, no scientific instruments at home and barely any at school, no stimulating lectures by public intellec- tuals. In this preinternet era, the one resource I did have was print books. I devoured those at home before I was ten and then turned to the minuscule town library, which lasted until I was twelve or so. Then puberty struck, and my interests turned else- where for a while. Leaving that small town for college sparked my curiosity and widened my horizons; I would often read far into the night until the letters blurred on the page and dawn began to break. Books for me were objects of veneration, doors that opened onto vistas much broader, stranger, and more entic- ing than I could experience in person. So it was inevitable, I sup- pose, that I would one day write a book about print books. It was not until I had developed the concept of cognitive assemblages, however, that I was able to bring together my affec- tion for print with my intellectual interests in computation. I was fortunate to witness firsthand the enormous technological changes as computation came of age, from the first mainframe
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