Difference between revisions of "Escaping Star Trek: Review by Istvan Csicsery-Ronay"
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| − | Csicsery-Ronay finds Shapiro's book "one of the most original works of sf-theory since Scott Bukatman's ''[[Terminal Identity: The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction (drama criticism)|Terminal Identity]]'' (1993)," but delays his review for "this message" on "The ''Star Trek'' 'Problem'" from your curmudgeon," i.e., | + | Csicsery-Ronay finds Shapiro's book "one of the most original works of sf-theory since Scott Bukatman's ''[[Terminal Identity: The Virtual Subject in Postmodern Science Fiction (drama criticism)|Terminal Identity]]'' (1993)," but delays his review for "this message" on "The ''Star Trek'' 'Problem'" from your curmudgeon," i.e., IC-R, who "never succumbed to the attraction of ''Star Trek''." IC-R's curmudgeonly response to ''Star Trek'' in its various incarnations is useful in itself, and, when he soon-enough gets to it, his concise and insightful analysis and evaluation of Shapiro's work make for an important review essay. |
| − | Shapiro stresses "technology's inherent accident,'" a "'technological trope'" IC-R suggests we might (though Shapiro does not) call "''the glitch''": | + | Shapiro stresses "technology's inherent accident,'" a "'technological trope'" IC-R suggests we might (though Shapiro does not) call "''the glitch''"[https://www.dictionary.com/browse/glitch]: and see as |
| + | <blockquote> | ||
| + | a figure though which technological systems collude in the breakdown of simulation, and allow the non-operational "real" to be revealed — in the same way that arts breaks down the hyperreal[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperreality] by emphasizing its own illusoriness. ''Star Trek'' is a central text in this 'defense of the real' in a doubled way: it is built on stories that emphasize the inherent ambiguities and ambivalences of art, and these stories are often about technologies that are also ambivalent, simultaneously constructors of virtual realities, and prone to liberating glitches. The doused meanings are captured by the term 'technologies of disappearance." (IC-R p. 306) | ||
| + | </blockquote> | ||
| + | |||
| + | Three meanings of "disappearances" all relevant for the Trek universe and topics on this wiki. | ||
| + | 1. Literal: As with ''Star Trek'''s "Holodeck, where people dis | ||
Revision as of 20:24, 28 June 2022
Csicsery-Ronay, Istvan. "Escaping Star Trek." Review of Alan N. Shapiro's STAR TREK: Technologies of Disappearance. Berlin: Avenue, 2004.[1] Science Fiction Studies #97 = 32.3 (November 2005): 503-11.
Csicsery-Ronay finds Shapiro's book "one of the most original works of sf-theory since Scott Bukatman's Terminal Identity (1993)," but delays his review for "this message" on "The Star Trek 'Problem'" from your curmudgeon," i.e., IC-R, who "never succumbed to the attraction of Star Trek." IC-R's curmudgeonly response to Star Trek in its various incarnations is useful in itself, and, when he soon-enough gets to it, his concise and insightful analysis and evaluation of Shapiro's work make for an important review essay.
Shapiro stresses "technology's inherent accident,'" a "'technological trope'" IC-R suggests we might (though Shapiro does not) call "the glitch"[2]: and see as
a figure though which technological systems collude in the breakdown of simulation, and allow the non-operational "real" to be revealed — in the same way that arts breaks down the hyperreal[3] by emphasizing its own illusoriness. Star Trek is a central text in this 'defense of the real' in a doubled way: it is built on stories that emphasize the inherent ambiguities and ambivalences of art, and these stories are often about technologies that are also ambivalent, simultaneously constructors of virtual realities, and prone to liberating glitches. The doused meanings are captured by the term 'technologies of disappearance." (IC-R p. 306)
Three meanings of "disappearances" all relevant for the Trek universe and topics on this wiki.
1. Literal: As with Star Trek's "Holodeck, where people dis
RDE, finishing, 25/26Jun22
