Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology

David P. Rando

ISBN 10: 3319816578 / ISBN 13: 9783319816579

Published by Springer International Publishing, Springer International Publishing, 2018

About this Item

Druck auf Anfrage Neuware - Printed after ordering - This book proposes that new music technologies attract unconscious desires for socialism and collectivity, enabling millions of people living under capitalism to dream of repressed social alternatives. Grounded in the philosophical writings of Ernst Bloch and Walter Benjamin, the book examines file sharing technologies, streaming services, and media players, as well as their historical antecedents, such as the player piano, cassette tape, radio and compact disc, alongside interpretations of fiction, memoir, and albums. Through the concept of wish images-the unconscious hopes and desires for social alternatives that gather around new technologies-the book identifies the repressed pre- and post-capitalist urges that attend our music technologies. While these desires typically remain unconscious and tend to pass away not only unmet but also unrecognized, Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology attempts to bring wishes for social alternatives to the surface at an auspicious moment of technological transition.

Seller Inventory # 9783319816579

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology
• Publisher: Springer International Publishing, Springer International Publishing
• Publication Date: 2018
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3319816578
• ISBN 13: 9783319816579
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 210W x 148H x 12D millimeters 210 millimeters width by 148 millimeters height by 12 millimeters depth
• Weight: 276 grams

About this title

Synopsis

This book proposes that new music technologies attract unconscious desires for socialism and collectivity, enabling millions of people living under capitalism to dream of repressed social alternatives. Grounded in the philosophical writings of Ernst Bloch and Walter Benjamin, the book examines file sharing technologies, streaming services, and media players, as well as their historical antecedents, such as the player piano, cassette tape, radio and compact disc, alongside interpretations of fiction, memoir, and albums. Through the concept of wish images—the unconscious hopes and desires for social alternatives that gather around new technologies—the book identifies the repressed pre- and post-capitalist urges that attend our music technologies. While these desires typically remain unconscious and tend to pass away not only unmet but also unrecognized, Hope and Wish Image in Music Technology attempts to bring wishes for social alternatives to the surface at an auspicious moment of technological transition. 

About the Author

David P. Rando is Associate Professor of English at Trinity University, San Antonio, Texas, USA. He is the author of Modernist Fiction and News: Representing Experience in the Early Twentieth Century, as well as articles on modernist and contemporary fiction.