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Implosion and Intoxication

Kittler, a German Classic, and Pink Floyd

Department of Central, Eastern and Northern European Studies, University of British Columbia (Vancouver)

Focusing on Kittler’s reading of Goethe’s ‘Wanderer’s Nightsong’ and Pink Floyd’s ‘Brain Damage’, the article traces Kittler’s development from discourse analysis to media theory. Where more traditional approaches would stress notions of self-reflexivity (both the poem and the song elaborate on their effects and foreground their own construction), Kittler performs, in his own words, a kind of ‘implosion’: The words of Goethe’s poem collapse back into the discursive order they evoke, and Pink Floyd’s song performs its own technology. But it is precisely this implosion that has an intoxicating effect, which paves the way for a more political, or at least politicized, reading of Kittler’s work that highlights his indebtedness to the cultural transgressions of the 1960s.

Key Words: discourse analysis • Goethe • Kittler • media theory • Pink Floyd

References

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Theory, Culture & Society, Vol. 23, No. 7-8, 75-91 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0263276406069884


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Winthrop-Young, G. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?