
Terminal Identity
The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction
Scott Bukatman(Author)
Duke University Press
Published on 20. May 1993
Book
Hardback
420 pages
978-0-8223-1332-8 (ISBN)
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Description
Scott Bukatman's Terminal Identity-referring to both the site of the termination of the conventional "subject" and the birth of a new subjectivity constructed at the computer terminal or television screen--puts to rest any lingering doubts of the significance of science fiction in contemporary cultural studies. Demonstrating a comprehensive knowledge, both of the history of science fiction narrative from its earliest origins, and of cultural theory and philosophy, Bukatman redefines the nature of human identity in the Information Age.
Drawing on a wide range of contemporary theories of the postmodern-including Fredric Jameson, Donna Haraway, and Jean Baudrillard-Bukatman begins with the proposition that Western culture is suffering a crisis brought on by advanced electronic technologies. Then in a series of chapters richly supported by analyses of literary texts, visual arts, film, video, television, comics, computer games, and graphics, Bukatman takes the reader on an odyssey that traces the postmodern subject from its current crisis, through its close encounters with technology, and finally to new self-recognition. This new "virtual subject," as Bukatman defines it, situates the human and the technological as coexistent, codependent, and mutally defining.
Synthesizing the most provocative theories of postmodern culture with a truly encyclopedic treatment of the relevant media, this volume sets a new standard in the study of science fiction-a category that itself may be redefined in light of this work. Bukatman not only offers the most detailed map to date of the intellectual terrain of postmodern technology studies-he arrives at new frontiers, providing a propitious launching point for further inquiries into the relationship of electronic technology and culture.
Drawing on a wide range of contemporary theories of the postmodern-including Fredric Jameson, Donna Haraway, and Jean Baudrillard-Bukatman begins with the proposition that Western culture is suffering a crisis brought on by advanced electronic technologies. Then in a series of chapters richly supported by analyses of literary texts, visual arts, film, video, television, comics, computer games, and graphics, Bukatman takes the reader on an odyssey that traces the postmodern subject from its current crisis, through its close encounters with technology, and finally to new self-recognition. This new "virtual subject," as Bukatman defines it, situates the human and the technological as coexistent, codependent, and mutally defining.
Synthesizing the most provocative theories of postmodern culture with a truly encyclopedic treatment of the relevant media, this volume sets a new standard in the study of science fiction-a category that itself may be redefined in light of this work. Bukatman not only offers the most detailed map to date of the intellectual terrain of postmodern technology studies-he arrives at new frontiers, providing a propitious launching point for further inquiries into the relationship of electronic technology and culture.
Reviews / Votes
"A major addition to the critical study of science fiction. . . . [Bukatman's] analyses of the tropes and metaphors found in recent SF illuminate key areas of concern for postmodernism generally."-Larry McCaffery, editor of Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk and Postmodern Fiction "Scott Bukatman is a smart man who has been thinking hard and paying a lot of attention. People should listen to him."-Bruce Sterling, author of The Hacker Crackdown:Law and Disorder on the Electronic Frontier "This book should appeal to . . . anyone in the humanities disciplines working within the discourses of postmodernism. The scholarship is absolutely superior."-Vivian Sobchack, author of Screening Space: The American Science Fiction FilmMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
North Carolina
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
30 b&w illustrations
ISBN-13
978-0-8223-1332-8 (9780822313328)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
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Additional editions

E-Book
05/1993
1st Edition
Duke University Press Books
€228.99
Available for download
Person
Scott Bukatman is Associate Professor of Art and Art History at Stanford University. He is the author of Terminal Identity: The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction, published by Duke University Press.