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Technical Media and Self-Apparatuses in the Ninteenth Century

DFG - Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Uni Siegen Uni Freiburg Humboldt Berlin Uni Fribourg Uni Basel Uni Strasbourg IGPP

 

DFG Research Project

SOCIAL INNOVATION THROUGH THE
NON-HEGEMONIC PRODUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE

Occult phenomena at the intersections of science, media history, and cultural transfer (1770-1970)

 

 

 

 

Technical Media and Self-Writing Apparatuses in the Nineteenth Century

 

Director: Prof. Dr. Christian Kassung
Researcher: Bernard Dionysius Geoghegan, M.A.
Since September 2011

 

 

This project examines the medial history of physical measuring instruments such as the nineteenth century “self-recorder” (literally, the “self-writer” [Selbstschreiber]). Starting from the premise that there was both a technical and epistemological correspondence between the devices deployed in spiritualism and the physical sciences during the nineteenth century, two principle questions arise: First, under what circumstances were technical instruments discursively reconstructed as spiritual or technical mediums? Second, to what extent did “new” spiritual apparatuses always already constitute a medium? We contend that without these considerations comprise an essential chapter within the history of scientific objectivity, as well as that of styles of reasoning in metaphysics, physiology, and psychology. In particular, this study aims to demonstrate the structural parallels between nineteenth century conceptions of physical-mechanical objectivity and the legitimating discourse that surrounded spiritual media and apparatuses. In this way the reconstruction, analysis and discussion of the self-recorder links the strategies and practices of objectivity with the history of spiritualism

 

 

 

PUBLICATIONS


Self-Writing Apparatuses/Occultism:

Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Kassung, Christian; Voss, Ehler (eds.): Looking Through the Occult. Instrumentation, Esotericism, and Epistemology in 19th Century. (edition in progress)
Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Kassung, Christian: Between Natural and Supernatural Science: A Genealogy of Self-Writing Apparatuses in the Nineteenth Century. (book in progress)
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: Towards a History of the Interface: On Automata and Astonishment. (article in progress)
Kassung, Christian: Automatic Imaging: The Planchette as a Selbstschreiber. (article in progress)
Kassung, Christian: Was bleibt und was nicht bleibt. Eine sehr kurze Geschichte der Energie. In: Gronau, Barbara (ed.): Szenarien der Energie. Zur Ästhetik und Wissenschaft des Immateriellen. Bielefeld. January 2013.
Kassung, Christian: Ein Apparat ist kein Gestell. In: von Herrmann, Hans-Christian; Velminski,  Wladimir (eds.): Maschinentheorien/Theoriemaschinen. Frankfurt am Main. June 2012.
Kassung, Christian: animal machines. Eine Falle ist kein Ge-Stell. In: Conradi, Tobias e.a. (eds.): Schemata und Praktiken. München. March 2012.

Kulturtechnik/Apparatuses:

Geoghegan, Bernard D.: The Culture and Technique of Kulturtechnik. In: Theory, Culture & Society. Autumn 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Peters, Ben: Cybernetics. In: Emerson, Lori e.a. (eds.): The Johns Hopkins Guide to the Digital Humanities. Johns Hopkins University Press. 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: The Cybernetic Apparatus: Media, Liberalism, and the Reform of the Human Sciences. Diss. Northwestern University, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar. 2012.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: La cybernétique «américaine» au sein du structuralisme «français». In: La Revue d'Anthropologie des Connaissances, 6/3. 2012.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: From Information Theory to French Theory: Jakobson, Lévi-Strauss, and the Cybernetic Apparatus. In: Critical Inquiry. Fall 2011.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: In Memoriam of Friedrich A. Kittler, 1943–2011. In: Critical Inquiry. Oct. 2011.
Kassung, Christian; Macho, Thomas (eds.): Kulturtechniken der Synchronisation. München. March 2013.



TEACHINGS


Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Kassung, Christian: Programmieren als Kulturtechnik. Wintersemester 2012/2013.


 


CONFERENCES/WORKSHOPS


Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Kassung, Christian; Voss, Ehler (org.): Looking Through the Occult. Instrumentation, Esotericism, and Epistemology in 19th Century. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. November 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Kassung, Christian; Natale, Simone (org.): Representations of the Future. Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Januar 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.; Kassung, Christian (org.): Was heißt Kulturtechnik? Hermann von Helmholtz-Zentrum für Kulturtechnik, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. Juni 2012.


 


LECTURES/INTERVIEWS


Geoghegan, Bernard D.: The Ghost in the Calculating Machine: On Automata and Astonishment. Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Chicago. March 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: Rethinking Cybernetics. Institut für Geschichte, Universität Wien. May 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: Towards a History of the Interface: On Automata and Astonishment. Department of Global Communications, American University of Paris. April 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: What is a Cultural Technique? Interview in: Oklahoma Public Radio. April 2012.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: New Media and Visual Culture Studies Today. Now! Visual Culture, New York University. Mai 2012.
Kassung, Christian: Selbstschreiber und elektrische Geister um 1800. Universität Freiburg, Schweiz. November 2012.
Kassung, Christian: The Knowledge of Writing Instruments. Fountain Pens as an Example of Actor Networks. Guangzhou University, China. Oktober 2012.
Kassung, Christian: Mit dem Pendel fühlen. Okkulte Selbstschreiber. Internationales Forschungszentrum Kulturwissenschaften, Wien. Dezember 2011.


TRAVELING


Geoghegan, Bernard D.: Northwestern University, University of Chicago. March 2013.
Geoghegan, Bernard D.: Northwestern University, University of Chicago, Yale University, New York University. March, April 2012.
Kassung, Christian: Guangzhou University. October 2012.
Kassung, Christian: Delhi University, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Jadavpur University, January 2013.

 

 

 

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