Understanding Flusser, Understanding Modernism

The Czech-Brazilian philosopher Vilém Flusser (1920–1991) has been recognized as a decisive past master in the emergence of contemporary media theory and media archeology. His work engages and also rethinks several mythologies of modernity, devising new methodologies, experimental literary practices, and expanded hermeneutics that trouble traditional practices of literary/literate knowledge, shared experience, reception, and communication.

Working within an expanded concept of modernism, Flusser presciently noted the power inherent in algorithmic information apparatuses to reshape our fundamental conceptions of culture and history. In an increasingly technological world, Flusser's form of experimental theory-fiction pits philosophy against cybernetics as it forces the category of “the human” to confront the inhuman world of animals and machines.

The contributors to Understanding Flusser, Understanding Modernism engage with the multiplicity of Flusser’s thought as they provide a general analysis of his work, engage in comparative readings with other philosophers, and offer expanded conceptualizations of modernism. The final section of the volume includes an extended glossary clarifying the playful terminology used by Flusser, which will be a valuable resource for experts and students alike.

Aaron Jaffe is Frances Cushing Ervin Professor of American Literature at Florida State University, USA. He is the author or editor of six previous books, including The Way Things Go: An Essay on the Matter of Second Modernism (2014).

Michael F. Miller is Visiting Lecturer in the Department of English Language and Culture at the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands. He has published essays on contemporary literature, media theory, digital culture, and politics.

Rodrigo Martini is Lecturer in English at the University of Georgia, USA.