Consequences of the Medium: Critical Theory at the Endpoint of Literature

Author: Jin Huimin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-12-01
Features: This book is considered an authoritative discussion on how new media affects the spiritual life of contemporary humans. Here I reiterate that I have never wanted to say anything about the "end of literature." What I want to say is merely that, in the age of new media, the cultural role of print literature has already and is currently being weakened. Professor Jin Huimin correctly warns that media images will lead to the loss of the reality that literature refers to, and I would like to emphasize that it will also lead to the loss of the "Heaven," "Dao," "God," or any other "mystical entities" that literature refers to. This is an important academic work that should be widely read. — J. Hillis Miller (J. HillsMiller), a renowned American literary critic and theorist, member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and distinguished professor at the University of California, Irvine.
In this pioneering work, Professor Jin Huimin analyzes and comments on the rapidly advancing media imperialism that is changing every corner of the globe and also transforming each of us as (post)modern subjects. The author critically examines two philosophical theories that are extremely important for understanding the essential characteristics of media, providing targeted and profound philosophical analyses. From this, it offers a series of original, comprehensive, and timely philosophical insights to grasp this ubiquitous contemporary phenomenon that will have a significant impact on the subject, ideology, and philosophy. — Ales Erjavec, a prominent Eastern European philosopher and aesthetician, former president of the International Association of Aesthetics, and professor and head of the Institute of Philosophy at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
In an electronic media age, a globalized age, and an age of images, what is the future and fate of books, literature, ideology, and imagery? Immersed in contemporary criticism, literary theory, and various discourses of Western philosophy, with a theoretical context primarily characterized by shallowness, directness, image proliferation, and deterritorialization, Professor Jin Huimin conducts an in-depth study of the decline of print culture and its cultural consequences. This research has a broad perspective and is full of exploratory spirit, serving as a timely response to major issues in contemporary cultural development. The questions and reflections raised in this book require our urgent attention. — Stuart Hall, a renowned contemporary thinker and sociologist, the spiritual leader of British cultural studies, and professor at the Open University, UK.
The book is divided into three parts: Zero Distance and the Current Crisis of Literature; Image Proliferation, Simulacra, and the Current Crisis of Literature; Globalization, Deterritorialization, and the Current Crisis of Literature.