Full Description
Myths such as Narcissus' reflection, Pandora's box, and Plato's cave have been used to frame modern technological dangers; often to describe people absorbed in their own digital reflections. Such speculation either purports that technology has a magical power or else that technology merely represents human nature unchanged from the myth's inception. But those accounts ignore the paradoxical understandings of the power relationships allegorized, where people are manipulated by higher forces beyond their comprehension. Working from the assumption that capitalism rather than God is the highest power, this book examines mythic anticipations of the screen and digital technology from European literature, poetry, folklore and philosophy. Digital technology and social media are approached not as reflections of human nature but capitalist ideology's power to enchant. To this end, Capitalism and the Enchanted Screen also surveys a diverse variety of films, digital media and contemporary artworks to understand and critique how myths are reimagined today.
Contents
Acknowledgements
Preface
Chapter 1: Introduction to Magical Technology and Dis-Enchanting Screens
Chapter 2: Lost in Reflection: Selfies and the Echo of Narcissus
Chapter 3:Interactive Entrapment Beyond Plato, Popcorn and The Matrix
Chapter 4: Digital Haunting, Vampires and Time Loops
Chapter 5: Pygmalion and Virtual Selves
Chapter 6: Babel and the Internet Tower
Chapter 7: The Invisible Cloaks, Rings and Trappings of the Capitalist Systems
Chapter 8: Digital Media as Pandora's Box Ajar
Conclusion
Endnotes
References
Index
