critical ecologies

In his new book, Michael Wutz examines how the work of four canonical novelists - Norris, Lowry, Doctorow, and Powers - register the revolutions in 20th century media technology. Such an analysis, reviewer Joseph Conte suggests, is an important extension of Kittlerian media theory to the field of American literature.

John Bruni suggests that Cary Wolfe's new essay collection explores the various cognitive fictions of humanism and carves out a functional role for systems-influenced theory and art.

In this review of Cary Wolfe's new essay collection, What is Posthumanism?, Neil Badmington reflects on the ebb and flow of "the posthuman" and ponders what Wolfe's work suggests for the future of the field.

Timothy Morton offers a critical reading of Roderick Coover's video Canyonlands: Edward Abbey and the Defense of Wilderness. In the video's stark modernist form, Morton writes, "the hydroelectric engine of human progress still hums." What's needed now, he suggests, is a "Goth remix."

Countering the persistent popular notion that electronic literature is just reading the classics under glass, Daniel Punday advocates for greater innovation, and more authorial autonomy, at the level of book design. Insisting on "authors' rights to design the interface through which readers encounter their books," Punday argues that digital book publishing should strive to emulate the medial status of games, "which remain messy individuals."