The Matrix trilogy continues to split opinions widely, polarising the downright dismissive and the wildly enthusiastic. Nevertheless, it has been fully embraced as a rich source of theoretical and cultural references. The contributions in this volume probe the effects the Matrix trilogy continues to provoke and evaluate how or to what extent they coincide with certain developments within critical and cultural theory. Is the enthusiastic philosophising and theorising spurned by the Matrix a sign of the desperate state theory is in, in the sense of "see how low theory (or ‘post-theory’) has sunk"? Or could the Matrix be one of the "master texts" for something like a renewal for theory as now being mainly concerned with new and changing relations between science, technology, posthumanist culture, art, politics, ethics and the media? The present volume is unashamedly but not dogmatically theoretical even though there is not much agreement about what kind of theory is best suited to confront "post-theoretical" times. But it is probably fair to say that there is agreement about one thing, namely that if theory appears to be "like" the Matrix today it does so because the culture around it and which "made" it itself seems to be captured in some kind of Matrix. The only way out of this is through more and renewed, refreshed theorising, not less.
Author(s): Myriam Diocaretz; Stefan Herbrechter (Eds.)
Year: 2006
Language: English
Pages: 315
Section One: Cultural Phenomenon......Page 26
Table of Contents......Page 6
Introduction......Page 8
“So Tonight I’m Gonna Party Like It’s 1999”: Looking Forward to The Matrix......Page 28
Revolution in The Matrix: A Cue Call for Reflexive Sociology......Page 54
Enter the Matrix: Interactivity and the Logic of Digital Capitalism......Page 74
Section Two: Virtualities......Page 96
Philosophy and The Matrix......Page 98
Simulacra, Simulation and The Matrix......Page 114
Is There an Exit from “Virtual Reality?” Grid and Network – From Tron to The Matrix......Page 132
Section Three: Embodiment......Page 152
Technofantasies and Embodiment......Page 154
Queering The Matrix: Hacking the Digital Divide and Slashing into the Future......Page 168
Sexing The Matrix: Gender and Sexuality in/as Cyberfiction......Page 194
Section Four: Theory......Page 210
Matrix – The New Constitution Between Hardware, Software and Wetware......Page 212
The Matrix Trilogy and the Triumph of Virtual Reason – Territorialized Topoi, Nomadic Lines......Page 228
The Posthuman Subject in The Matrix......Page 250
“New Theory?” The Posthumanist Academy and the Beguilements of the Matrix Trilogy......Page 292
Contributors......Page 312
