Topology of Violence

Author:   Byung-Chul Han (Professor, Universität der Künste Berlin) ,  Amanda DeMarco (Translator (French and German to English))
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Volume:   9
ISBN:  

9780262534956


Pages:   168
Publication Date:   20 April 2018
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Format:   Paperback
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
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Topology of Violence


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Overview

One of today's most widely read philosophers considers the shift in violence from visible to invisible, from negativity to excess of positivity.Some things never disappear-violence, for example. Violence is ubiquitous and incessant but protean, varying its outward form according to the social constellation at hand. In Topology of Violence, the philosopher Byung-Chul Han considers the shift in violence from the visible to the invisible, from the frontal to the viral to the self-inflicted, from brute force to mediated force, from the real to the virtual. Violence, Han tells us, has gone from the negative-explosive, massive, and martial-to the positive, wielded without enmity or domination. This, he says, creates the false impression that violence has disappeared. Anonymized, desubjectified, systemic, violence conceals itself because it has become one with society. Han first investigates the macro-physical manifestations of violence, which take the form of negativity-developing from the tension between self and other, interior and exterior, friend and enemy. These manifestations include the archaic violence of sacrifice and blood, the mythical violence of jealous and vengeful gods, the deadly violence of the sovereign, the merciless violence of torture, the bloodless violence of the gas chamber, the viral violence of terrorism, and the verbal violence of hurtful language. He then examines the violence of positivity-the expression of an excess of positivity-which manifests itself as over-achievement, over-production, over-communication, hyper-attention, and hyperactivity. The violence of positivity, Han warns, could be even more disastrous than that of negativity. Infection, invasion, and infiltration have given way to infarction. One of today's most widely read philosophers considers the shift in violence from visible to invisible, from negativity to excess of positivity.Some things never disappear-violence, for example. Violence is ubiquitous and incessant but protean, varying its outward form according to the social constellation at hand. In Topology of Violence, the philosopher Byung-Chul Han considers the shift in violence from the visible to the invisible, from the frontal to the viral to the self-inflicted, from brute force to mediated force, from the real to the virtual. Violence, Han tells us, has gone from the negative-explosive, massive, and martial-to the positive, wielded without enmity or domination. This, he says, creates the false impression that violence has disappeared. Anonymized, desubjectified, systemic, violence conceals itself because it has become one with society. Han first investigates the macro-physical manifestations of violence, which take the form of negativity-developing from the tension between self and other, interior and exterior, friend and enemy. These manifestations include the archaic violence of sacrifice and blood, the mythical violence of jealous and vengeful gods, the deadly violence of the sovereign, the merciless violence of torture, the bloodless violence of the gas chamber, the viral violence of terrorism, and the verbal violence of hurtful language. He then examines the violence of positivity-the expression of an excess of positivity-which manifests itself as over-achievement, over-production, over-communication, hyper-attention, and hyperactivity. The violence of positivity, Han warns, could be even more disastrous than that of negativity. Infection, invasion, and infiltration have given way to infarction.

Full Product Details

Author:   Byung-Chul Han (Professor, Universität der Künste Berlin) ,  Amanda DeMarco (Translator (French and German to English))
Publisher:   MIT Press Ltd
Imprint:   MIT Press
Volume:   9
Dimensions:   Width: 11.40cm , Height: 1.10cm , Length: 17.80cm
ISBN:  

9780262534956


ISBN 10:   0262534959
Pages:   168
Publication Date:   20 April 2018
Recommended Age:   From 18 years
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Professional and scholarly ,  Tertiary & Higher Education ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   To order   Availability explained
Stock availability from the supplier is unknown. We will order it for you and ship this item to you once it is received by us.
Language:   English

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Byung-Chul Han, born in Seoul, is Professor of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at the Universit t der K nste Berlin (UdK). One of the most widely read philosophers in Europe, he is the author of more than twenty books, including including four previous volumes in the MIT Press Untimely Meditations series, In the Swarm- Digital Prospects, The Agony of Eros, Shanzhai- Deconstruction in Chinese, and Topology of Violence.

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