Optical Media

by Friedrich A. Kittler

This major new book provides a concise history of optical media from Renaissance linear perspective to late twentieth-century computer graphics. Kittler begins by looking at European painting since the Renaissance in order to discern the principles according to which modern optical perception was organized. He also discusses the development of various mechanical devices, such as the camera obscura and the laterna magica, which were closely connected to the printing press and which played a pivotal role in the media war between the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation. After examining this history, Kittler then addresses the ways in which images were first stored and made to move, through the development of photography and film. He discusses the competitive relationship between photography and painting as well as between film and theater, as innovations like the Baroque proscenium or "picture-frame" stage evolved from elements that would later constitute cinema. The central question, however, is the impact of film on the ancient monopoly of writing, as it not only provoked new forms of competition for novelists but also fundamentally altered the status of books. In the final section, Kittler examines the development of electrical telecommunications and electronic image processing from television to computer simulations.

In short, this book provides a comprehensive introduction to the history of image production that is indispensable for anyone wishing to understand the prevailing audiovisual conditions of contemporary culture.

Genres: Philosophy, History, Art, Theory, Nonfiction, Film, Art History

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Friedrich Kittler was a literary scholar and a media theorist.

Kittler is influential in the new approach to media theory that grew popular starting in the 1980s
Kittler's central project is to "prove to the human sciences [...] their technological-media a priori" (Hartmut Winkler), or in his own words: "Driving the human out of the humanities",[4] a title that he gave a work that he published in 1980.

Kittler sees an autonomy in technology and therefore disagrees with Marshall McLuhan's reading of the media as "extensions of man": "Media are not pseudopods for extending the human body. They follow the logic of escalation that leaves a written history behind it.

Among Kittler's theses was his tendency to argue, with a mixture of polemicism, apocalypticism, erudition, and humor, that technological conditions were closely bound up with epistemology and ontology itself. This claim and his style of argumention is aptly summed up in his dictum "Nur was schaltbar ist, ist überhaupt"—a phrase that could be translated as "Only that which is switchable, exists" or more freely, "Only that which can be switched, can be."

He studied German studies, Romance philology and philosophy at the Albert Ludwigs University of Freiburg in Freiburg im Breisgau. During his studies, he was influenced by Jacques Lacan's, Michel Foucault's and Martin Heidegger's writings.

In 1976, Kittler received his doctorate in philosophy after a thesis on the poet Conrad Ferdinand Meyer. Between 1976 and 1986 he worked as academic assistant at the university's Deutsches Seminar. In 1984, he earned his Habilitation in the field of Modern German Literary History.

He had several stints as a Visiting Assistant Professor or Visiting Professor at universities in the United States, such as the University of California, Berkeley, the University of California, Santa Barbara and Stanford University.
He was recognized in 1996 as a Distinguished Scholar at Yale University and in 1997 as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Columbia University in New York.

Reviews

[homoness · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a rather concise wrap-up of all things Kittlerian: there's the anti-humanism, there's the sexism, there's the insistence on media and technology, there's the bellicism and so forth.

Yet, it is also filled to the brim with ingenious remarks, conclusions and connections that are wildly speculative at times, yet absolutely refreshing and interesting. What distinguishes Kittler from many other writers is his ardent refusal of any trope; historiographically and theoretically.

So, if you're interested in media, technology and the coming of optical media, and want to get a narrative that is more than just the usual erudite scholarship, this is the book for you.

May come with rants about political correctness and bizarre remarks on kama-sutra, tho...

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

His understanding is too technical. It always gets problematic whenever scholars from the humanitarian side get too much involved in science. This is not a comment just out of this one book. It's after quite a bit read of media theories.
However, it is nevertheless a different angle.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Accessible, Hegel-influenced view on the history of image technology. For the most part the writing style is clear and the English translation seems accurate, though there may be a few misunderstood points. Consistently good quality and surprisingly good grasp of technical matters for someone with a background in German literature, with only a few surprising gaffs.

[A.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

More sensical. Still problematic.

[Steen Ledet · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book on how images and illusions grew historically into cinema, which was anticipated centuries ago.

[André · Rating 2 out of 5]

Recension critique sur mon site Histoire de la télévision : https://www.histv.net/kittler