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Dispatches to the Dead: Delegation, Consumption, and Mischievous Pleasure (Thinking with Robert Pfaller in the So-called Present)

Publication ,  Journal Article
Steintrager, JA; Chow, R
Published in: boundary 2
May 1, 2022

For the past twenty years or so, the Austrian cultural theorist Robert Pfaller has been positing and analyzing the concepts of “interpassivity” (as opposed to interactivity) and the delegation of enjoyment both in sacred rituals and in relation to various media of reproduction (such as video recorders and photocopiers). Steintrager and Chow argue that Pfaller's insights into delegation as a key and understudied feature of media ecologies are particularly relevant today, as delegation of various activities has intensified. However, the latest media and technologies, which gather so much information about us that we end up in a state of informational debt, pose a challenge to his thesis that delegation is an unconscious strategy for seeking relief from the onslaught of images, commodities, and information.

Duke Scholars

Published In

boundary 2

DOI

EISSN

1527-2141

ISSN

0190-3659

Publication Date

May 1, 2022

Volume

49

Issue

2

Start / End Page

295 / 313

Publisher

Duke University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • Literary Studies
  • 4705 Literary studies
  • 4702 Cultural studies
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 2005 Literary Studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Steintrager, J. A., & Chow, R. (2022). Dispatches to the Dead: Delegation, Consumption, and Mischievous Pleasure (Thinking with Robert Pfaller in the So-called Present). Boundary 2, 49(2), 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1215/01903659-9644597
Steintrager, James A., and Rey Chow. “Dispatches to the Dead: Delegation, Consumption, and Mischievous Pleasure (Thinking with Robert Pfaller in the So-called Present).” Boundary 2 49, no. 2 (May 1, 2022): 295–313. https://doi.org/10.1215/01903659-9644597.
Steintrager, James A., and Rey Chow. “Dispatches to the Dead: Delegation, Consumption, and Mischievous Pleasure (Thinking with Robert Pfaller in the So-called Present).” Boundary 2, vol. 49, no. 2, Duke University Press, May 2022, pp. 295–313. Crossref, doi:10.1215/01903659-9644597.
Steintrager JA, Chow R. Dispatches to the Dead: Delegation, Consumption, and Mischievous Pleasure (Thinking with Robert Pfaller in the So-called Present). boundary 2. Duke University Press; 2022 May 1;49(2):295–313.
Journal cover image

Published In

boundary 2

DOI

EISSN

1527-2141

ISSN

0190-3659

Publication Date

May 1, 2022

Volume

49

Issue

2

Start / End Page

295 / 313

Publisher

Duke University Press

Related Subject Headings

  • Literary Studies
  • 4705 Literary studies
  • 4702 Cultural studies
  • 2203 Philosophy
  • 2005 Literary Studies
  • 2002 Cultural Studies