Semiotic flesh : information & the human body / edited by Phillip Thurtle and Robert Mitchell.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Thurtle, Phillip.

Mitchell, Robert, 1969-

Series:

Short studies from the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities.

Short studies from the Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human body.

Computer science--Social aspects.

Computer science.

Information technology--Social aspects.

Information technology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (81 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Seattle : Walter Chapin Simpson Center for the Humanities, 2002.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

For much of the 20th century, an apparently solid conceptual wall allowed us to separate information and bodies. Information is that which exists between elements; bodies are the elements themselves. One is abstract the other corporeal. One is intricately involved in signs and syntax, the other in cells and organs. Yet in the last few decades, it has become increasingly clear that this conceptual wall leaks--bodies and information will not stay separate from one another. Data have become flesh just as flesh has become data. Semiotic Flesh marks an important contribution to the emerging field of information studies, providing multiple perspectives on the implications of burgeoning information technologies and biotechnologies.The essays and responses in this volume focus on the sites where flesh and information productively intermingle, including the strange connections between LSD and DNA research, the implications of computer-assisted surgery, and the role of the human body in virtual reality installations.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Introduction: Flash Data: Semiotics, Information, and the Body / Robert Mitchell and Phillip Thurtle

1. LSDNA: Consciousness Expansion and the Emergence of Biotechnology / Richard Doyle

Response / Steven Shaviro

2. The Virtual Surgeon: Operating on the Data in an Age of Medialization /Timothy Lenoir

Response / Peter Oppenheimer

3. Flesh and Metal: Reconfiguring the Mindbody in Virtual Environments / N. Katharine Hayles

Response / Kathleen Woodward.

Notes:

Essays originally presented as part of a lecture series, held at the University of Washing in Jan.-Feb. 2001.

Includes bibliographical references.

Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

ISBN:

9780295804347

0295804343

OCLC:

774404017