[iDC] Just Say Adorno

[David Golumbia]

May I enthusiastically second this as an audience member? I assumed 
Martin must have missed your paper, Ayhan, which I think was the last or 
second-to-last paper on the panel, and I found it just terrific and 
unexpected. The historical connection between Western perceptions of the 
Muslim other and computing was astonishing; and I don't think I see you 
directly mentioning here, Ayhan, the close historical connection you 
demonstrated between the words "automata" and "Turk." I'm still thinking 
over all the consequences of this paper more than any other from the 
conference, & I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't had a look at 
it (is a copy of it on scribd or one of the other conference sites)?

David

Ayhan wrote:
> Hi Martin,
> My presentation was actually on the orientalist imaginations inscribed in the conceptions of the human machine assemblages. I used a media archaeological analysis to demonstrate the role of the oriental other in the 18th century automata that incorporated the mechanical animation of Muslim bodies for mediation of the key philosophical discussions on Cartesian mind/body duality. Within the long history of human workers kept hidden behind the machines, or as specters that animated the industrial machine, Amazon's utilization of Kempelen's Mechanical Turk automaton as its metaphor for branding and the model for exploitation in the age of cognitive labor looks like a corporate Turret syndrome.
>
> The cultural as you suggested is not a mere superstructure but it is at the center of the evolution of these technologies. Before the actualization of many technologies we see the efforts of imaginations and conceptualizations through various devices that act as the cultural apparatus for later reconfigurations. 18th century automata was among such apparatus and many of the notions we discuss today were explored through their proxies of that time, the chess playing Turk being one of them. It was a safe proxy for exploring the uncanny possibilities of the idea of autonomous machines. Interestingly today, it is still relevant to such an extent that its vivid image is almost transparent or outside of our field of vision as a factor in our analysis of the alterity in the cognitive labor.
> Thank you for bringing this issue up.  I also wanted to thank Trebor for organizing this conference, it was a great experience for me and I learned a lot.
>
>
> Ayhan Aytes
>
> Ph.D. Candidate
> University of California San Diego
> Department of Communication
>
> Ayhan Aytes
>
> Ph.D. Candidate
> University of California San Diego
> Department of Communication
>
>
>   


-- 
David Golumbia
Assistant Professor
Media Studies, English, and Linguistics
University of Virginia