In this article Zielinski argues for the development of a new hermeneutics for electronically "textured" cultural products. ("Confronted by electronic textures," writes Zielinski, "the familiar concepts of hermeneutic interpretation . . . begin to slide towards a void . . . . ") This new mode of interpretation will recognize the semiological shifts of art mediated by information technology, the undermining of traditional concepts of truth/reference to reality and work/originality, and an "operational" relationship between reader and author; that is, one in which the reader contributes to or participates in the artistic process. Zielinski argues that the "symbiosis of art and technology" achieved during the Renaissance has eroded so that a dichotomy exists in which the subject has become detached from her/his environment. As a counterforce to the resulting "hegemony of technoculture," Zielinski proposes an alliance between artists and technicians. The revised hermeneutics he advocates might be developed further; for example, by an alliance of semiology, psychoanalysis, literary and media studies, and engineering sciences. (Sarah Wadsworth.)
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Michael Hancher

Department of English, University of Minnesota

URL: http://umn.edu/home/mh/ebibsw3.html

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Created 29 April 1995

Last revised 17 September 1996