1. //
  2. Start
  3. //
  4. Publications
  5. On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish
  6. Output formats
  7. //

On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

Standard

On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish. / Chun, Wendy.
In: Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology, Vol. 16, No. 3, 2008, p. 299-324.

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

Harvard

Chun, W 2008, 'On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish', Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 299-324. https://doi.org/10.1353/con.0.0064

APA

Chun, W. (2008). On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish. Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology, 16(3), 299-324. https://doi.org/10.1353/con.0.0064

Vancouver

Chun W. On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish. Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology. 2008;16(3):299-324. doi: 10.1353/con.0.0064

Bibtex

@article{28cfe7d3b7af4029b2d38fc5cdd0c802,
title = "On {"}Sourcery,{"} or Code as Fetish",
abstract = "This essay offers a sympathetic interrogation of the move within new media studies toward {"}software studies.{"} Arguing against theoretical conceptions of programming languages as the ultimate performative utterance, it contends that source code is never simply the source of any action; rather, source code is only source code after the fact: its effectiveness depends on a whole imagined network of machines and humans. This does not mean that source code does nothing, but rather that it serves as a kind of fetish, and that the notion of the user as super agent, buttressed by real-time computation, is the obverse, not the opposite of this {"}sourcery.{"}",
keywords = "Digital media",
author = "Wendy Chun",
year = "2008",
doi = "10.1353/con.0.0064",
language = "English",
volume = "16",
pages = "299--324",
journal = "Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology",
issn = "1080-6520",
publisher = "Johns Hopkins University Press",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - On "Sourcery," or Code as Fetish

AU - Chun, Wendy

PY - 2008

Y1 - 2008

N2 - This essay offers a sympathetic interrogation of the move within new media studies toward "software studies." Arguing against theoretical conceptions of programming languages as the ultimate performative utterance, it contends that source code is never simply the source of any action; rather, source code is only source code after the fact: its effectiveness depends on a whole imagined network of machines and humans. This does not mean that source code does nothing, but rather that it serves as a kind of fetish, and that the notion of the user as super agent, buttressed by real-time computation, is the obverse, not the opposite of this "sourcery."

AB - This essay offers a sympathetic interrogation of the move within new media studies toward "software studies." Arguing against theoretical conceptions of programming languages as the ultimate performative utterance, it contends that source code is never simply the source of any action; rather, source code is only source code after the fact: its effectiveness depends on a whole imagined network of machines and humans. This does not mean that source code does nothing, but rather that it serves as a kind of fetish, and that the notion of the user as super agent, buttressed by real-time computation, is the obverse, not the opposite of this "sourcery."

KW - Digital media

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=77949276813&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1353/con.0.0064

DO - 10.1353/con.0.0064

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 16

SP - 299

EP - 324

JO - Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology

JF - Configurations: a Journal of Literature, Science, and technology

SN - 1080-6520

IS - 3

ER -

Other publications by the same author(s)

Control and Freedom: Power and Paranoia in the Age of Fiber Optics

Chun, W., 2006, Cambridge: The MIT Press. 352 p.

Research output: Books and anthologies › Monographs › Research › peer-review

Control y libertad: La renovación de los nuevos medios. Medios demoníacos

Chun, W., 2009, Arte, ciencia y tecnología: un panorama crítico. La Ferla, J. (ed.). Buenos Aires: Espacio Fundación Telefónica, p. 61-71 237 p.

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Research › peer-review

Crisis, Crisis, Crisis, or Sovereignty and Networks

Chun, W., 11.2011, In: Theory, Culture & Society. 28, 6, p. 91-112 22 p.

Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

Digital Media, History of

Chun, W. & Sodermann, B., 05.06.2008, International Encyclopedia of Communication. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing, Inc., Vol. 4.

Research output: Contributions to collected editions/works › Articles for encyclopedia › Research

Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies: Race and/as Technology

Chun, W. (Editor) & Joyrich, L. (Editor), 2009, Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 209 p. (Camera Obscura; vol. 24, no. 1)

Research output: Books and anthologies › Special Journal issue › Research

Links

DOI

Recently viewed

Researchers

  1. Roman Krämer

Publications

  1. Microstructural approaches of engineering materials
  2. How Organizing Matters for Societal Grand Challenges
  3. Three source-partitioning of CO2 fluxes based on a dual-isotope approach to investigate interactions between soil organic carbon, glucose and straw
  4. Daniel Fiott (ed.), The csdp in 2020: The EU’s legacy and ambition in security and defence
  5. Being perceived as a knowledge sender or knowledge receiver
  6. Formative assessment in every-day teaching of mathematical modelling
  7. Belief in Free Will Is Related to Internal Attribution in Self-Perception
  8. From Blue Collar to Open Commons Region
  9. Lufthansa Cargo´s alliance strategy: Spinning a web of stable relations
  10. Transformations of pesticides in the atmosphere
  11. Simulation wilder Spekulationen. Oder: Wie einmal Paul Baran mit einem falschen Modell das Internet erfand
  12. Different sizes, similar challenges
  13. Democratization as an emancipative process
  14. Commodity Studies with Polanyi
  15. Porträt ohne Modell
  16. The Impact of Power Distance Orientation on Recipients' Reactions to Participatory Versus Programmatic Change Communication
  17. Unintended Consequences of Field Experiments in Poverty Settings
  18. Written Reasoning in Primary School
  19. Portal als Experimentalsystem
  20. Performing university space
  21. Bildanalysen
  22. Socio-technical change linking expectations and representations
  23. Discovering cooperation
  24. Ereignis
  25. Russia: Inadequate Priority Given to Energy Efficiency and Climate Protection
  26. Are We Discovering or Making Concepts? Performativity in Concept Defining
  27. Materialität der Diagramme
  28. Genre(s)
  29. Plausibility indications in future scenarios
  30. Devils from our past
  31. Rethinking AI

Press / Media

  1. Ein Fädchen Hoffnung