Electronic Eros: Bodies and Desire in the Postindustrial Age [Hardcover]

Claudia Springer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1996

The love affair between humans and the machines that have made us faster and more powerful has expanded into cyberspace, where computer technology seems to offer both the promise of heightened erotic fulfillment and the threat of human obsolescence. In this pathfinding study, Claudia Springer explores the techno-erotic imagery in recent films, cyberpunk fiction, comic books, television, software, and writing on virtual reality and artificial intelligence to reveal how these futuristic images actually encode current debates concerning gender roles and sexuality. Drawing on psychoanalytical and film theory, as well as the history of technology, Springer offers the first sustained analysis of eroticism and gender in such films as RoboCop, The Terminator, Eve of Destruction, and Lawnmower Man; cyberpunk books such as Neuromancer, Count Zero, Virtual Light, A Fire in the Sun, and Lady El; the comic books Cyberpunk and Interface, among others; and the television series Mann and Machine. Her analysis demonstrates that while new electronic technologies have inspired changes in some pop culture texts, others stubbornly recycle conventions from the past, refusing to come to terms with the new postmodern social order. Written to be accessible and entertaining for students and general readers as well as scholars, Electronic Eros will be of interest to a wide interdisciplinary audience.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The dawn of the computer age has presented something of a problem for Hollywood. Sure, the quiet hum of a large computer bank has been used in movies to convey tension, as sweat breaks out on the faces of the handsome nerds in charge. But the fact is, computers are quiet; they are softly lit and gently curved, emitting a placid internal hum. In short, they are feminine. Macho action is out. In our postindustrial age the days of thrusting pistons, erupting steam, and crunching hardware are gone. In film and cyberpunk fiction, Terminator-type technological icons are in danger of being supplanted by female cyborgs more in tune with these cyberfemme times. Claudia Springer, a professor of English and film studies at Rhode Island College, examines the cultural implications of this transformation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

a fascinating study of techno-erotic imagery ... Ms. Springer reveals what new technologies--both fictional and real--tell us about ourselves. -- The New York Times Book Review, Margot Mifflin --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 182 pages
• Publisher: University of Texas Press; 1st edition (April 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0292776969
• ISBN-13: 978-0292776968
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,122,599 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readable Theory!, January 26, 2000

By 

Krista (COLLEGE PARK, MD, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Electronic Eros: Bodies and Desire in the Postindustrial Age (Paperback)

Springer's book delves into the changing nature of desire and the body in the face of new media technologies. The examples she uses are usually well known and her language is clear and concise. Unlike most cyborg theory, this book is fun and enjoying to read.