A Giant on the Shoulders of Dwarfs

Archaeology and Recursion in Friedrich Kittler’s Works

Authors

  • Tania Hron Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Kulturwissenschaft Nachlass/Edition Friedrich Kittler
  • Sandrina Khaled Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Kulturwissenschaft Nachlass/Edition Friedrich Kittler

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v2i1.27106

Keywords:

archaeology, history of being, Kittler, literary studies, recursion, vowel alphabet

Abstract

The essay explores the significance of archaeology and recursion in Kittler's works. The term recursion did not simply replace the term archaeology; it has become the paradigm for Kittler's history of being. Archaeology of knowledge can be described as following an iterative process, uncovering layers leading to the identification of recursive, self referential operations that shape technical innovation as well as concepts, thought and the conditions of reproduction: themes Kittler followed from Discourse Networks to Aphrodite and Eros. Recursion produces a better understanding based less in hermeneutical interpretation than in (data) processing.

Author Biographies

  • Tania Hron, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Kulturwissenschaft Nachlass/Edition Friedrich Kittler

    Tania Hron worked for and with Friedrich Kittler from 2004 until his death. From 2011 to 2014 she was engaged at the Deutsche Literaturarchiv Marbach in archiving Kittler’s literary estate, a vast collection of papers and digital storage devices such as floppy discs, CD-ROMs, old laser discs as well as several hard drives. She is co-editor of the Collected Works of Friedrich Kittler.

  • Sandrina Khaled, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Institut für Kulturwissenschaft Nachlass/Edition Friedrich Kittler

    Sandrina Khaled worked with Friedrich Kittler in different research projects such as EUROPA, Aufschreibesysteme aus Codes, Medien und Künsten. As Assistant Professor to the Chair of Aesthetics and History of Media she taught at Humboldt University from 1999 to 2007. She is co-editor of the Collected Works of Friedrich Kittler.

References

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Published

2015-09-02

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How to Cite

Hron, T., & Khaled, S. (2015). A Giant on the Shoulders of Dwarfs: Archaeology and Recursion in Friedrich Kittler’s Works. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 2(1), 105-116. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.v2i1.27106