The Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses, Unreasonable Facsimiles [Paperback]

Hillel Schwartz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 28, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0942299361 | ISBN-13: 978-0942299366

The Culture of the Copy is an unprecedented attempt to make sense of our Western fascination with replicas, duplicates, and twins. In a work that is breathtaking in both its synthetic and critical achievements, Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions of our entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presence alternately sustains and overwhelms us.Through intriguing, and at times humorous, historical analysis and case studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates most varieties of simulacra, including counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, ditto marks, portraits, genetic cloning, war games, camouflage, instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, photocopies, wax museums, apes, art forgeries, not to mention the very notion of the Real McCoy.At the same time Schwartz works through a range of modernist, feminist, and postmodern theories about copies and mechanical reproduction, posing the following compelling question: How is it that the ethical dilemmas at the heart of so many fields of endeavor have become inseparable from our pursuit of copies -- of the natural world, or our own creations, indeed our very selves?The Culture of the Copy is a stunning, innovative blend of microsociology, cultural history, and philosophical reflection that will fascinate anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Considering how many tricky ethical and legal questions there are with various electronic reproductions, The Culture of the Copy is a timely book. Our fascination with copies, replicas, and reproduction is explored in this unusual and engaging historical and cultural survey. While it isn't solely about electronic copies, the historical review of the technology of reproduction sets our current debates over copyright and intellectual property in the digital age in perspective. In fact, Schwartz suggests that the ethical dilemmas in many fields have become inseparable from our pursuit of copies. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"If God is in the details, then this book is surely divine or, atleast, demonic. Siamese twins and doppelgängers, parrots andapes, decoys and mannequins, robots and clones, impostors andpretenders are but a few of the stops on this dizzying and dazzlingtour de force of every conceivable trompe l'oeil." Francis Kane , New York Times Book Review

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Product Details

• Paperback: 568 pages
• Publisher: Zone (August 28, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942299361
• ISBN-13: 978-0942299366
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #240,458 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And?... Your point is?, January 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses, Unreasonable Facsimilies (Hardcover)

This is an excellent book that could have been much much more. Our current ability to create a world of likenesses and copies has changed the way we look at the world. And this well written work discusses just how many issues, from twins, to copied documents, to ethnolographic film, are informed by our search for the "real" in a world of "copies." Yet this work never becomes anything more than a well written, entertaining series of well-selected anecdotes. The philosophical issues, the absurdity of any idea of "identity" or metaphysical "difference," in a world in which identities are fabricated, is never touched upon. This work could have been a philosophical tome, changing the way I thought; unfortunately it only made me chuckle at how people have been confused by twins

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You won't find a better book than this., November 13, 2005

By 

J. B. Royster "english patient" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses, Unreasonable Facsimiles (Paperback)

This book covers so many varieties of imitation types that you can't go wrong in reading it. It is particularly useful if you are interested in the imitation aspect involved in some subject, such as camouflage or doppelgangers, that won't have this idea covered well enough under its own title. The book is a cultural/ historical chronicle with enough research done by the author to make it stand out on the shelves.

4 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars thinking-lite, October 9, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses, Unreasonable Facsimiles (Paperback)

A travesty. Schwartz, in this book, does nothing but reformulate older theories and water them down in a text that should be titled "The Idiot's Guide to the Copy."
Although passing himself off as a scholar, Schwartz has never been able to receive tenure at any college or university. Simplisitic accounts of what could otherwise be a fascinating philosophical study do little to further his reputation.