Hi all,
here some references to the work of the independent German theorist Klaus
Theweleit. In the early eighties he worked in the same department as
Friedrich Kittler, in Freiburg. Their work on gender, media and
collaboration has striking similarities, that is, they must have discussed
this topic a lot back then.
Both Theweleit and Kittler stress the importance of the (Deleuzian)
productive element of the man-female-machine triangle. Now, this can also be
a male-medium-male connection or a female-medium-female one, but obviously,
in male dominated heterosexual societies, the male-female-machine one is the
dominant one. Theweleit looks into the oppressive aspect, in which males
'sacrifice' female bodies as their medium.
I wonder if such gender production stories are still out there. I can
imagine that the gender aspect is still there but is not being played out
through technology so much. If I think about Internet and the computer it is
the bachelor's machine that I think of, not the male genius author who is
dictating his book to his secretary/lover, but I might be wrong there. Why
was the shift from the typewriter to Pc-based word processing so crucial in
this respect?
Some related URLs:
Overview of Theweleit's Theory of Media, Art and Collaboration
http://www.thing.desk.nl/bilwet/adilkno/TheMediaArchive/33.txt
Review of Klaus Theweleit's Book of Kings, second volume
http://www.thing.desk.nl/bilwet/adilkno/TheMediaArchive/34.txt
Review of Klaus Theweleit's Book of Kings, second volume
http://www.mediamatic.net/cwolk/view/9043