Prosthetic Culture
Photography, Memory and Identity
Author: Celia Lury Series: International Library of Sociology
Using examples drawn from phototherapy, accounts of false memory syndrome, family albums, Benetton ads and the lives of cartoon characters, the author argues that the `eyes' made available by contemporary visual technologies involve not simply specific way of seeing, but also ways of life.
Hardcover
PRODUCT INFORMATION
Summary
Using examples drawn from phototherapy, accounts of false memory syndrome, family albums, Benetton ads and the lives of cartoon characters, the author argues that the `eyes' made available by contemporary visual technologies involve not simply specific way of seeing, but also ways of life.
Description
In a fascinating account of how technology is altering our consciousness, Celia Lury shows how the manipulation of photographic images and ways of seeing can so redefine the relation between consciousness, the body and memory as to create a 'prosthetic culture' whose capacities both extend and threatened our humanity. We live in a society in which body parts are traded commodities, in which some memories can be falsely implanted in the individual while others are stored in video archives of images, in which the powers of cartoon superheroes break through the limitations of time and space. Using the examples of photo-therapy, family albums, Benetton advertising campaigns, the phenomenon of false memory syndrome and the 'lives' of cartoon characters this book argues that the 'yes' made available by contemporary visual technologies involves not simply specific ways of seeing, but also ways of life.
About the Author
Celia Lury is a Lecturer in Sociology at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
Back Cover
We live in a society in which body parts are components in a global traffic of goods, in which some memories can be falsely implanted in the individual, while others are stored outside the individual in video archives. It is the body's ability to act outside itself both mechanically and perceptually in this way which Celia Lury describes as prosthetic culture. Using examples drawn from phototherapy, accounts of false memory syndrome, family albums, Benetton adverts, and the lives of cartoon characters, she argues that the 'eyes' made available by contemporary visual technologies involve not simply specific way of seeing, but also ways of life.
Product Details
Returns
This item is eligible for free returns within 30 days of delivery. See our returns policy for further details.
