Putting the body into "cyberspace": imagining the experience of being an active agent in a wired world
Introductory Notes
First, a caution. This thesis was written as part of the requirements for a Master of Arts in Mass Communication through the Centre for Mass Communications Research at the University of Leicester, completed in 2000. The language is formal and academic - sorry!
I'm not maintaining the reference links within the thesis - hopefully many of them will still work, but no guarantees.
Should you want a (I hope) printer-friendly version, with the whole thesis on one lexia, please click here.
Synopsis
This thesis imagines the experience of a wired world (an expansion and development of existing technology) using the concept of embodiment developed by Hayles, Bourdieu's theory of habitus, and Debray's emphasis on historically situating the agent.
It develops new terminology to more accurate explain operations in that world, including that of "commissioners" (formerly surfers) who bring into being a unique paratext on each encounter with technology.
It concludes that the wired world will situate each commissioner at the centre of an extensive network of communities and will feature an explosion in the number of texts, including those generated between machines and humans.
Dedication
This thesis is dedicated to my late mother, Joy Bennett, and to the members of CEL (the Copy-editing e-mail List) who as a community made a significant contribution to its contents.
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