The Cybercultures Reader Cybercultures:from internet discussion groups to interactive cyberart;from Captain America to Modem Boy;from identity-play to community-building;from hackers to cyborgs... The Cybercultures Reader brings together key writings in the exciting new interdisciplinary field of cyberculture studies,providing in one volume a comprehensive guide to the ways in which new technologies are reshaping cultural forms and practices in the new millennium. Articles by leading cybercultural critics including Donna Haraway,Andrew Ross,Stelarc, Sadie Plant,Arthur and Marilouise Kroker,and Arturo Escobar are structured into thematic sections,addressing: introductions approaching cyberculture popular cybercultures cybersubcultures cyberfeminisms cybersexual cyberbodies post [cyber]bodies scaling cyberspaces cybercolonization Key features of the Reader include: A general introduction by the editors to the study of cyberculture A user's guide to the Reader Introductions to each thematic section,locating the articles in their theoretical and technological contexts A full bibliography of cybertexts Contributors:Anne Balsamo,Graham Barwell,Michael Benedikt,Kate Bowles,Gareth Branwyn,Scott Bukatman,Lisa Cartwright,Susan Clerc,Mark Dery,Arturo Escobar,Mike Featherstone,Thomas Foster,Jennifer Gonzalez,Diana Gromala,Donna Haraway,Arthur Kroker,Marilouise Kroker,Alison Landsberg,Timothy Leary,Deborah Lupton,Ananda Mitra,Lisa Nakamura,Mark Oehlert,Michael Ostwald,Sadie Plant,Forest Pyle,Kevin Robins,Andrew Ross,Chela Sandoval,Ziauddin Sardar,Vivian Sobchack,Claudia Springer, Judith Squires,Susan Leigh Star,Stelarc,Allucquere Rosanne Stone,Jon Stratton,Susan Stryker,Tiziana Terranova,Richard Thieme,David Tomas,Daniel Tsang,Nina Wakeford, Deena Weinstein,Michael Weinstein,Shawn P.Wilbur,Michele Willson,Randal Woodland, Susan Zickmund. The Editors:David Bell is Senior Lecturer in Cultural Studies and Barbara M.Kennedy is Senior Lecturer in Film and Cultural Studies at Staffordshire University
The Cybercultures Reader Edited by David Bell and Barbara M.Kennedy R London and New York
First published 2000 by Routledge 11 New Fetter Lane,London EC4P 4EE Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge 29 West 35th Street,New York,NY 10001 Reprinted 2001 Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor&Francis Group 2000 David Bell and Barbara M.Kennedy for selection and editorial matter Typeset in Bembo by Florence Production Ltd, Stoodleigh,Devon Printed and bound in Great Britain by T.J.International, Padstow,Cornwall All rights reserved.No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic,mechanical,or other means,now known or hereafter invented,including photocopying and recording,or in any information storage or retrieval system,without permission in writing from the publishers. British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book has been requested ISBN0-415-18378-2(HB) ISBN0-415-18379-0(PB)
Contents Illustrations xiii Notes on contributors xiv Acknowledgements xxii INTRODUCTIONS i David Bell CYBERCULTURES READER:A USER'S GUIDE 1 ii Barbara Kennedy THE VIRTUAL MACHINE'AND NEW BECOMINGS IN PRE-MILLENNIAL CULTURE 13 PART ONE Approaching cyberculture David Bell INTRODUCTION 25 1.Michael Benedikt CYBERSPACE:FIRST STEPS 29 2.Shawn P.Wilbur AN ARCHAEOLOGY OF CYBERSPACES:VIRTUALITY, COMMUNITY,IDENTITY 45
vi CONTENTS 3.Arturo Escobar WELCOME TO CYBERIA:NOTES ON THE ANTHROPOLOGY OF CYBERCULTURE 56 4.Kevin Robins CYBERSPACE AND THE WORLD WE LIVE IN 77 5.Arthur Kroker and Marilouise Kroker CODE WARRIORS:BUNKERING IN AND DUMBING DOWN 96 PART TWO popular cybercultures Barbara Kennedy INTRODUCTION 107 6.Mark Oehlert FROM CAPTAIN AMERICA TO WOLVERINE:CYBORGS IN COMIC BOOKS:ALTERNATIVE IMAGES OF CYBERNETIC HEROES AND VILLAINS 112 7.Forest Pyle MAKING CYBORGS,MAKING HUMANS:OF TERMINATORS AND BLADE RUNNERS 124 8.Vivian Sobchack NEW AGE MUTANT NINJA HACKERS:READING MONDO 2000 138 9.Scott Bukatman TERMINAL PENETRATION 149 10.David Tomas THE TECHNOPHILIC BODY:ON TECHNICITY IN WILLIAM GIBSON'S CYBORG CULTURE 175 11.Alison Landsberg PROSTHETIC MEMORY:TOTAL RECALL AND BLADE RUNNER 190
CONTENTS vii PART THREE cybersubcultures David Bell INTRODUCTION 205 12 Deena Weinstein and Michael A.Weinstein NET GAME CAMEO 210 13.Susan Clerc ESTROGEN BRIGADES AND BIG TITS'THREADS:MEDIA FANDOM ON-LINE AND OFF 216 14.Richard Thieme STALKING THE UFO MEME 230 15.Susan Zickmund APPROACHING THE RADICAL OTHER:THE DISCURSIVE CULTURE OF CYBERHATE 237 16.Andrew Ross HACKING AWAY AT THE COUNTER-CULTURE 254 17.Tiziana Terranova POST-HUMAN UNBOUNDED:ARTIFICIAL EVOLUTION AND HIGH-TECH SUBCULTURES 268 PART FOUR cyberfeminisms Barbara Kennedy INTRODUCTION 283 18.Donna Haraway A CYBORG MANIFESTO:SCIENCE,TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIALIST-FEMINISM IN THE LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY 291 19.Sadie Plant ON THE MATRIX:CYBERFEMINIST SIMULATIONS 325 20.Claudia Springer DIGITAL RAGE 337
viii CONTENTS 21.Nina Wakeford NETWORKING WOMEN AND GRRRLS WITH INFORMATION/ COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY:SURFING TALES OF THE WORLD WIDE WEB 350 22.Judith Squires FABULOUS FEMINIST FUTURES AND THE LURE OF CYBERCULTURE 360 23.Chela Sandoval NEW SCIENCES:CYBORG FEMINISM AND THE METHODOLOGY OF THE OPPRESSED 374 PART FIVE cybersexual David Bell INTRODUCTION 391 24.Gareth Branwyn COMPU-SEX:EROTICA FOR CYBERNAUTS 396 25.Nina Wakeford CYBERQUEER 403 26.Randal Woodland QUEER SPACES,MODEM BOYS AND PAGAN STATUES: GAY/LESBIAN IDENTITY AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF CYBERSPACE 416 27.Daniel Tsang NOTES ON QUEER 'N'ASIAN VIRTUAL SEX 432 28.Thomas Foster 'TRAPPED BY THE BODY?TELEPRESENCE TECHNOLOGIES AND TRANSGENDERED PERFORMANCE IN FEMINIST AND LESBIAN REWRITINGS OF CYBERPUNK FICTION 439 29.Sadie Plant COMING ACROSS THE FUTURE 460
CONTENTS ix PART SIX cyberbodies Barbara Kennedy INTRODUCTION 471 30.Deborah Lupton THE EMBODIED COMPUTER/USER 477 31.Anne Balsamo THE VIRTUAL BODY IN CYBERSPACE 489 32.Allucquere Rosanne Stone WILL THE REAL BODY PLEASE STAND UP?BOUNDARY STORIES ABOUT VIRTUAL CULTURES 504 33.Timothy Leary THE CYBERPUNK:THE INDIVIDUAL AS REALITY PILOT 529 34.Jennifer Gonzalez ENVISIONING CYBORG BODIES:NOTES FROM CURRENT RESEARCH 540 PART SEVEN post-(cyber)bodies David Bell INTRODUCTION 555 35.Stelarc FROM PSYCHO-BODY TO CYBER-SYSTEMS:IMAGES AS POST-HUMAN ENTITIES 560 36.Mark Dery RITUAL MECHANICS:CYBERNETIC BODY ART 577 37.Susan Stryker TRANSSEXUALITY:THE POSTMODERN BODY AND/AS TECHNOLOGY 588 38.Diana Gromala PAIN AND SUBJECTIVITY IN VIRTUAL REALITY 598
x CONTENTS 39.Mike Featherstone POST-BODIES,AGING AND VIRTUAL REALITY 609 40.Lisa Cartwright THE VISIBLE MAN:THE MALE CRIMINAL SUBJECT AS BIOMEDICAL NORM 619 PART EIGHT scaling cyberspaces David Bell INTRODUCTION 627 41.Susan Leigh Star FROM HESTIA TO HOME PAGE:FEMINISM AND THE CONCEPT OF HOME IN CYBERSPACE 632 42.Michele Willson COMMUNITY IN THE ABSTRACT:A POLITICAL AND ETHICAL DILEMMA? 644 43.Michael 0stwald VIRTUAL URBAN FUTURES 658 44.Ananda Mitra VIRTUAL COMMONALITY:LOOKING FOR INDIA ON THE INTERNET 676 PART NINE Cybercolonization David Bell INTRODUCTION 697 45.Graham Barwell and Kate Bowles BORDER CROSSINGS:THE INTERNET AND THE DISLOCATION OF CITIZENSHIP 702 46.Lisa Nakamura RACE IN/FOR CYBERSPACE:IDENTITY TOURISM AND RACIAL PASSING ON THE INTERNET 712
CONTENTS xi 47.Jon Stratton CYBERSPACE AND THE GLOBALIZATION OF CULTURE 721 48.Ziauddin Sardar ALT.CIVILIZATIONS.FAQ:CYBERSPACE AS THE DARKER SIDE OF THE WEST 732 Index 753