Shaviro’s Connected is an interesting endeavor into literature of the future to account for the present. Obviously, not finished with the book yet but here are some things that have struck as worrying and/or fascinating that I hope will be addressed further has I move through the text.
Firstly, as measured against a number of the readings we have done thus far, Shaviro is not explicitly writing a balance or counter-balance to prevailing academia. He may actually refer to theory and other texts more than any author we have encountered (it would require some serious background to follow it all), though he seems to distill it quite well and use it to great effect in purpose. Not stringing out a balance or counter-balance does not mean he doesn’t have one or intend to present one but the form in which he, smartly, chooses to write requires a reflection of networked society… in its pace, scattered development, and juxtaposition such that to posit a lengthy theoretical presume would disengage his position.
As for form, the brief rapid topics without chapters and sometimes without any logical connection between parts replicate our networked existence quite well for an academic book. The irony of engaging this form is that the environment of manic information sharing gets recreated in his own work. Some very deep thoughts points get dropped in less than 300 words. Much is forgettable. Jack Spicer may have been under-examined. And his constant use of Burroughs is slightly problematic because much of Burroughs work it concerned with physical interaction with material but Shaviro seems to want to steer away from the visceral and focus on the cerebral. The most prescient example is in the Body and Screen (6-7) when he is describing the physical relationship, or servitude, to the desktop computer- his level of hyperbole is peaking or he seems to think that the desktop has agency over him. Odd. Melodramatic. Thus far, I think this book is very ambitious, very interesting but he seems to be falling for the trap of a lot of science fiction’s reflections in allowing the artificially constructed world of the author maintain a 1-to-1 relationship to the RL- taking the metaphor too far. Many a Christian and Muslim have this problem too with their particular science fiction. If he doesn’t make big moves to assuage this for me… I’m gonna be suspect. Especially since it shouldn’t be that hard considering the amount of names he is invoking and/or inverting.
