Letters, Postcards, Email

Technologies of Presence

Fiction & Literature, Essays & Letters, Literary Theory & Criticism, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Letters, Postcards, Email by Esther Milne, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Esther Milne ISBN: 9781135177461
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: February 27, 2012
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Esther Milne
ISBN: 9781135177461
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: February 27, 2012
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

In this original study, Milne moves between close readings of letters, postcards and emails, and investigations of the material, technological infrastructures of these forms, to answer the question: How does presence function as an aesthetic and rhetorical strategy within networked communication practices? As her work reveals, the relation between old and new communication systems is more complex than allowed in much contemporary media theory.

Although the correspondents of letters, postcards and emails are not, usually, present to one another as they write and read their exchanges, this does not necessarily inhibit affective communication. Indeed, this study demonstrates how physical absence may, in some instances, provide correspondents with intense intimacy and a spiritual, almost telepathic, sense of the other’s presence. While corresponding by letter, postcard or email, readers construe an imaginary, incorporeal body for their correspondents that, in turn, reworks their interlocutor’s self-presentation. In this regard the fantasy of presence reveals a key paradox of cultural communication, namely that material signifiers can be used to produce the experience of incorporeal presence.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In this original study, Milne moves between close readings of letters, postcards and emails, and investigations of the material, technological infrastructures of these forms, to answer the question: How does presence function as an aesthetic and rhetorical strategy within networked communication practices? As her work reveals, the relation between old and new communication systems is more complex than allowed in much contemporary media theory.

Although the correspondents of letters, postcards and emails are not, usually, present to one another as they write and read their exchanges, this does not necessarily inhibit affective communication. Indeed, this study demonstrates how physical absence may, in some instances, provide correspondents with intense intimacy and a spiritual, almost telepathic, sense of the other’s presence. While corresponding by letter, postcard or email, readers construe an imaginary, incorporeal body for their correspondents that, in turn, reworks their interlocutor’s self-presentation. In this regard the fantasy of presence reveals a key paradox of cultural communication, namely that material signifiers can be used to produce the experience of incorporeal presence.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book Speaking of Dance by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Social Stratification and Moblity in the USSR by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Regionalism and Nationalism in the United States by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Microfoundations and Macroeconomics by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Matrix Activism by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Proper English by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Disciplines of Education by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Rethinking Liberalism for the 21st Century by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Personal Decisions in the Public Square by Esther Milne
Cover of the book The City by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Building Security in the New States of Eurasia: Subregional Cooperation in the Former Soviet Space by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Demonetisation Decoded by Esther Milne
Cover of the book The Economic Development of South Korea by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Teaching Young Adults by Esther Milne
Cover of the book Film Directing Fundamentals by Esther Milne
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy