Technology as Symptom and Dream (Paperback)

~ R. Romanyshyn (Author) "Naked exposure, stripped of clothes and skin, two electric bodies exchange a kiss..." (more)
Key Phrases: linear perspective vision, little cosmonaut, self behind the window, Little Cosmonaut, New York, Mary Shelley (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

". . . a rare achievement." -- Times Literary Supplement - July 1990

"The cast of characters assembled in Romanyshyn's tale--from things such as the telescope, television, and the telephone, to ideas like the vanishing and the distance points, to figures such as Brunelleschi and Alberti, Galileo and Harvey, Mesmer and Freud--is as impressive as the story he tells is persuasive. The author asks us to take nothing on his word but deftly directs us to our own images on art and in life, in history and in the present day." -- The Humanistic Psychologist - Autumn 1990

"There is a specificity and tightness . . . that is compelling . . . an excellent complement to Jung's historical reflections and alchemical studies." -- Harvest

"You have, in my opinion, produced one of the wisest and most compellingly urgent books I have encountered in a long while. Thank you for this book." -- Alice Jardine, Department of Romance Language and Literature, Harvard University

. . . a rare achievement.
–Times Literary Supplement, July 1990

. . . any psychology that would be a psychology of culture must include an appraisal of technology as a psychological event. This is precisely what Romanyshyn has done by seeing technology as both symptom and dream in this remarkable work.
–Temenos

The cast of characters assembled in Romanyshyn's tale--from things such as the telescope, television, and the telephone, to ideas like the vanishing and the distance points, to figures such as Brunelleschi and Alberti, Galileo and Harvey, Mesmer and Freud--is as impressive as the story he tells is persuasive. The author asks us to take nothing on his word but deftly directs us to our own images on art and in life, in history and in the present day.
–The Humanistic Psychologist, Autumn 1990

The cast of characters assembled in Romanyshyns tale--from things such as the telescope, television, and the telephone, to ideas like the vanishing and the distance points, to figures such as Brunelleschi and Alberti, Galileo and Harvey, Mesmer and Freud--is as impressive as the story he tells is persuasive. The author asks us to take nothing on his word but deftly directs us to our own images on art and in life, in history and in the present day.
–The Humanistic Psychologist, Autumn 1990

There is a specificity and tightness . . . that is compelling . . . an excellent complement to Jung's historical reflections and alchemical studies.
–Harvest

There is a specificity and tightness . . . that is compelling . . . an excellent complement to Jungs historical reflections and alchemical studies.
–Harvest

You have, in my opinion, produced one of the wisest and most compellingly urgent books I have encountered in a long while. Thank you for this book.
–Alice Jardine, Department of Romance Language and Literature, Harvard University

Product Description

Robert Romanyshyn's latest book shows how the development of linear perspective vision has altered our relationship with the world and led to our increasing alienation.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 268 pages
• Publisher: Routledge (December 13, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415007879
• ISBN-13: 978-0415007870
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #601,776 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romanyshyn Calls us to Re-member Many Things..., October 24, 1999

By	Victor Barbetti ([e-mail]) "victo... (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

In Technology as Symptom and Dream, Romanyshyn discovers that with the 'invention' of linear perspective vision came many changes in who we imagine ourselves to be. The mathematization of the world provided a new kind of freedom for (literally) seeing the world differently. The subject of the artist in paintings and the artist became broken up, or fragmented, through the process of using a veil based on a geometric understanding of space. Within that space one can see how the 'depth' of things changed, from a depth of levels to a depth of linear measurement. It is this frame that makes possible the anatomical view of the body, and it is the anatomical view that gives rise to the corpse, or what Romanyshyn calls the 'anatomical body' of science. We thus have a psychological and cultural division between the body as corpse and what Romanyshyn calls the 'pantomimic' body, or what phenomenology distinguishes as the 'lived body' of experience. Throughout the last 500 years we have seen these two possibilities manifest themselves in our culture. Romanyshyn has shown us that when our culture place too much of an emphasis on just one aspect of the body, certain aspects of the other (the pantomimic) show through in a not so glorious fashion. So we can understand Romanyshyn's discussion of the shadow side of the anatomical body (the witch, the madman, the monster, the anorexic) as a way of telling us what's wrong and as a remembrance for how to make things right. The pantomimic body, as a shadow of the anatomical body, reminds us that there are different ways of seeing the world, and that certain ways we think are the best (e.g. our technological worldview) come to us with a very expensive price tag.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mixed feelings, but some very insightful content, June 22, 2006

By	Patrick D. Goonan "www.meaningful-life.us" (Pleasanton, CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In general, I have mixed feelings toward this book. For example, I found a lot of the content to be unnecessarily repititious. However, the general thesis was good food for thought.

In this volume, Romanyshyn looks at a our propensity as culture to look at life from a very monucular linear perspective. He borrows many analogies from art and this is helpful in understanding his ideas.

Basically, this book deals with our alienation from our bodies, nature and what makes us basically human. He claims much of this evolved out of Cartesian dualism and ties it in to the development of perspective in painting and the rise of technology.

I enjoyed many aspect of this book, but at times found the repitition and verbose language frustrating. However, the underlying premises and arguments seemed to hold. In short, I think this book needed more exacting editing. If this was the case, I would give it a much higher rated review.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A daring re-visioning of technology...., November 15, 1999

By	Craig Chalquist, PhD, author of TERRAPSYCHOLO... (Bay Area, CA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

...in its numinous potential, both dark and bright. Dr. Romanyshyn invites the reader to see the sense in the symptom of what we do with our linear-perspectival progress through time...and what it does to us. Highly recommended. -- Craig Chalquist, M.S., designer of the Thine Own Self self-exploration site.