Beyond the Book

This is a compilation of academic conference papers from early 1995 which seek to explore the relations between critical theory and Information Technology. One of the most successful in doing so is by George Landow, who has written extensively on the subject. It's significant that he has also had practical experience of organizing hypertexts and electronic versions of his own texts, which some of the other contributors obviously lack.

Indeed, the principal weakness of the collection is that many of the articles have all the worst features of academic research papers, cranked out for the sake of career-advancement: "I hope to show...This essay will explore...The chief concern of this essay...". They show off by name dropping (ten references per page at the highest density). There's a strong whiff of groupiness and fashion: quotations all come from the same theorists - Lyotard, Guattari, Delueze, Derrida, and Foucault. There is very typically an essay which sets out in clouds of theory, but quickly becomes an encomium for arcade games. Worst of all, there's the political correctness [and this is not made up] of an essay on a "gay Black American SF writer" [PC++?]

The best application of theory to practice is in John Pickering's witty and humane reflections on the uses of hypermedia for teaching. He ranges widely from arts to sciences; he warns against the "cut-and-paste culture of the Internet"; and even though he has a slightly conservative conclusion ("As a vehicle for the narrative voice, the book cannot be bettered") his essay raises more interesting questions than most of the others put together. 

It's an elegantly produced book. The printer deserves more credit than some of the contributors in terms of engagement with modern technology. If there's a positive theme to emerge from these rather uneven presentations, it's the attempt to bridge an apparent gap between traditional cultural studies and New Technology – though the weakness of the attempt would appear to stem from its being made by those with one or both feet still within the Old Camp, with precious evident experience of the New.