Symbolic Misery, Volume 1: The Hyperindustrial Epoch

Symbolic Misery, Volume 1: The Hyperindustrial Epoch

In this important new book, the leading cultural theorist andphilosopher Bernard Stiegler re-examines the relationship betweenpolitics and aesthetics in our contemporary hyperindustrialage.

Stiegler argues that our epoch is characterized by the seizure ofthe symbolic by industrial technology, where aesthetics has becomeboth theatre and weapon in an economic war. This has resulted in aâ€˜symbolic miseryâ€™ where conditioning substitutes forexperience. In todayâ€™s control societies, aesthetic weaponsplay an essential role: audiovisual and digital technologies havebecome a means of controlling the conscious and unconscious rhythmsof bodies and souls, of modulating the rhythms of consciousness andlife. The notion of an aesthetic engagement, capable of founding anew communal sensibility and a genuine aesthetic community, haslargely collapsed today. This is because the overwhelming majorityof the population is now totally subjected to the aestheticconditioning of marketing and therefore estranged from anyexperience of aesthetic inquiry. That part of the population thatcontinues to experiment aesthetically has turned its back on thosewho live in the misery of this conditioning.

Stiegler appeals to the art world to develop a politicalunderstanding of its role. In this volume he pays particularattention to cinema which occupies a unique position in thetemporal war that is the cause of symbolic misery: at onceindustrial technology and art, cinema is the aesthetic experiencethat can combat conditioning on its own territory.

This highly original work - the first in Stieglerâ€™sSymbolic Misery series - will be of particular interest tostudents in film studies, media and cultural studies, literatureand philosophy and will consolidate Stieglerâ€™s reputation asone of the most original cultural theorists of our time.
Country USA
Brand Wiley
Manufacturer Polity
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 9780745652658
ReleaseDate 2014-09-25
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780745652658

Country	USA
Brand	Wiley
Manufacturer	Polity
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	9780745652658
ReleaseDate	2014-09-25
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780745652658

Symbolic Misery, Volume 1: The Hyperindustrial Epoch

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