What do you guys think of pic related?
We're reading it in my Lit 2 class. I appreciate some of the rhetorical devices, but I haven't yet found it literary valuable.
>>7751591
That's a fucking nice edition. Who publishes it?
>>7751595
Yeah! The book is certainly beautiful. As are all the "props." it's published by Mulholland Books
>>7751591
It looks interesting but I'm poor af at the moment so I'm not buying it anytime soon.
>>7751591
GROOVE STREET, HOME.
>>7752063
LEAST IT WAS UNTIL I FUCKED EVERY THANG UP
Do the authors comment on Foucault's Panopticon?
https://youtu.be/GULQ8P8c4RA
In Discipline and Punish, Michel Foucault builds on Bentham's conceptualization of the panopticon as he elaborates upon the function of disciplinary mechanisms in such a prison and illustrated the function of discipline as an apparatus of power. The ever-visible inmate, Foucault suggests, is always "the object of information, never a subject in communication".[1] He adds that,
"He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection" (202-203).[2]
Foucault offers still another explanation for the type of "anonymous power" held by the operator of the central tower, suggesting that, "We have seen that anyone may come and exercise in the central tower the functions of surveillance, and that this being the case, he can gain a clear idea of the way the surveillance is practiced".[3] By including the anonymous "public servant," as part of the built-in "architecture" of surveillance, the disciplinary mechanism of observation is decentered and its efficacy improved.
As hinted at by the architecture, this panoptic design can be used for any "population" that needs to be kept under observation or control, such as: prisoners, schoolchildren, medical patients, or workers:
"If the inmates are convicts, there is no danger of a plot, an attempt at collective escape, the planning of new crimes for the future, bad reciprocal influences; if they are patients, there is no danger of contagion; if they are madmen there is no risk of their committing violence upon one another; if they are schoolchildren, there is no copying, no noise, no chatter, no waste of time; if they are workers, there are no disorders, no theft, no coalitions, none of those distractions that slow down the rate of work, make it less perfect or cause accidents".[1]
By individualizing the subjects and placing them in a state of constant visibility, the efficiency of the institution is maximized. Furthermore, it guarantees the function of power, even when there is no one actually asserting it. It is in this respect that the Panopticon functions automatically. Foucault goes on to explain that this design is also applicable for a laboratory. Its mechanisms of individualization and observation give it the capacity to run many experiments simultaneously. These qualities also give an authoritative figure the "ability to penetrate men’s behavior" without difficulty.[1] This is all made possible through the ingenuity of the geometric architecture. In light of this fact Foucault compares jails, schools, and factories in their structural similarities.
>>7752038
Do you want my copy when I'm done with it?
>>7752200
How would that work, exactly?
>>7751591
I enjoyed it when I was reading it, but I didn't really take anything away from it. Shame, since the format is loaded with potential. Like most of J.J. Abrams ideas, they're a lot of fun while you're experiencing them, but once you're done there's nothing to really go back to.
If your class is reading it for the sake of having an experimental novel, they should've chosen anything by Danielewski. The Familiar is turning into a serious beast of writing.
>>7752245
Interestingly enough, we just finished House of Leaves
>>7752226
No idea! But I'm open to suggestions. If you're in the US I'll ship it to you
>>7751591
gimmick. why the fuck is it coursework?
>>7754093
I do go to an engineering school, so don't expect much from its English department
