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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

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