The Demon of Writing : Powers and Failures of Paperwork

Ben Kafka

ISBN 10: 194213035X / ISBN 13: 9781942130352

Published by Zone Books Apr 2020, 2020

About this Item

Neuware - Since the middle of the eighteenth century, political thinkers of all kinds - radical and reactionary, professional and amateur - have been complaining about 'bureaucracy.' But what, exactly, is all this complaining about The Demon of Writing is a critical history and theory of one of the most ubiquitous, least understood forms of media: paperwork. States rely on records to tax and spend, protect and serve, discipline and punish. But time and again this paperwork proves to be unreliable. Examining episodes from the story of a clerk who lost his job and then his mind in the French Revolution to Roland Barthes's brief stint as a university administrator, the book reveals the powers, failures, and even pleasures of paperwork. Many of its complexities, the book argues, have been obscured by the comic-paranoid style that characterizes so many of our criticisms of bureaucracy. At the same time, the book outlines a new theory of what Marx called the 'bureaucratic medium.' Returning first to Marx, then to Freud, The Demon of Writing argues that this theory of paperwork must be attentive to both praxis and parapraxis.

Seller Inventory # 9781942130352

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Demon of Writing : Powers and Failures of Paperwork
• Publisher: Zone Books Apr 2020
• Publication Date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 194213035X
• ISBN 13: 9781942130352
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 228W x 154H x 17D millimeters 228 millimeters width by 154 millimeters height by 17 millimeters depth
• Weight: 301 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Since the middle of the eighteenth century, political thinkers of all kinds ― radical and reactionary, professional and amateur ― have been complaining about “bureaucracy.” But what, exactly, is all this complaining about?

The Demon of Writing is a critical history and theory of one of the most ubiquitous, least understood forms of media: paperwork. States rely on records to tax and spend, protect and serve, discipline and punish. But time and again this paperwork proves to be unreliable. Examining episodes from the story of a clerk who lost his job and then his mind in the French Revolution to Roland Barthes’s brief stint as a university administrator, the book reveals the powers, failures, and even pleasures of paperwork. Many of its complexities, the book argues, have been obscured by the comic-paranoid style that characterizes so many of our criticisms of bureaucracy. At the same time, the book outlines a new theory of what Marx called the “bureaucratic medium.” Returning first to Marx, then to Freud, The Demon of Writing argues that this theory of paperwork must be attentive to both praxis and parapraxis.

About the Author

Ben Kafka is an Assistant Professor of Media History and Theory at New York University and a candidate at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR), a component society of the International Psychoanalytical Association. He works with adult and adolescent patients through the IPTAR Clinical Center and the NYC Free Clinic.