Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics after Remix

by David J. Gunkel

Overview

A new theory of moral and aesthetic value for the age of remix, going beyond the usual debates over originality and appropriation.

Remix—or the practice of recombining preexisting content—has proliferated across media both digital and analog. Fans celebrate it as a revolutionary new creative practice; critics characterize it as a lazy and cheap (and often illegal) recycling of other people's work. In Of Remixology, David Gunkel argues that to understand remix, we need to change the terms of the debate. The two sides of the remix controversy, Gunkel contends, share certain underlying values—originality, innovation, artistic integrity. And each side seeks to protect these values from the threat that is represented by the other. In reevaluating these shared philosophical assumptions, Gunkel not only provides a new way to understand remix, he also offers an innovative theory of moral and aesthetic value for the twenty-first century.

In a section called “Premix,” Gunkel examines the terminology of remix (including “collage,” “sample,” “bootleg,” and “mashup”) and its material preconditions, the technology of recording. In “Remix,” he takes on the distinction between original and copy; makes a case for repetition; and considers the question of authorship in a world of seemingly endless recompiled and repurposed content. Finally, in “Postmix,” Gunkel outlines a new theory of moral and aesthetic value that can accommodate remix and its cultural significance, remixing—or reconfiguring and recombining—traditional philosophical approaches in the process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780262334983
Publisher:	MIT Press
Publication date:	04/29/2016
Series:	The MIT Press
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	4 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

David J. Gunkel is Distinguished Teaching Professor of Communication Technology at Northern Illinois University and the author of The Machine Question: Critical Perspectives on AI, Robots, and Ethics, Of Remixology: Ethics and Aesthetics after Remix, both published by the MIT Press, and other books.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

Acknowledgments xiii

Introduction xvii

I Premix 1

1 Terminological Mix-Up 3

1.1 Sampling Terminology 3

1.1.1 Collage 4

1.1.2 Sample 7

1.1.3 Bootleg 9

1.1.4 Mashup 11

1.1.5 Remix 15

1.2 Mixed Messages 18

1.2.1 Irreducible Plurality 19

1.2.2 Polyonyms, Hyponyms, and Quasi Synonyms 20

1.2.3 Master Signifiers 22

1.3 Remixology 26

1.3.1 Remixing Epistemology 26

1.3.2 Remixing Truth 28

1.3.3 Remixing Rhetoric 31

2 For the Record 33

2.1 Technology 36

2.1.1 Writing as Technology 37

2.1.2 Technology as Writing 39

2.2 Recording 41

2.2.1 Preservation Medium 41

2.2.2 Technological Axiology 44

2.3 Writing Problems 46

2.3.1 Representation 46

2.3.2 Repetition 49

2.3.3 Vulnerabilities 51

2.4 Remixing Platonism 54

II Remix 59

3 Simulation 61

3.1 Blind Faith 64

3.1.1 Listening to Baudrillard 64

3.1.2 Fidelity 67

3.2 Critical Infidelities 71

3.2.1 Rethinking Recording 71

3.2.2 Simulation 74

3.2.3 The Order of Simulacra 76

3.3 Remixing Baudrillard 79

3.3.1 Outside the Box 80

3.3.2 Critical Blasphemy 82

4 Repetition 85

4.1 Repetition 1.0 87

4.1.1 Remix History 88

4.1.2 Remix Theory 98

4.2 Repetition 2.0 103

4.2.1 Simulation Again 104

4.2.2 Rethinking Axiology 106

4.2.3 Reversing Platonism 108

4.3 The End of Platonism 111

5 Promiscuous Bastards 115

5.1 What Is an Author? 116

5.1.1 The Invention of the Author 117

5.1.2 Authorship and Music 120

5.2 Death of the Author 126

5.2.1 Ghost in the Machine 126

5.2.2 Remixing Authority 129

5.3 Afterlife 130

5.3.1 Reanimation 131

5.3.2 Giving Up the Ghost 135

III Postmix 139

6 Rethinking Remix 141

6.1 Responding to Remix 143

6.1.1 Ptolemization 144

6.1.2 Revolution 146

6.2 Remixing Theory 150

6.2.1 Derrida vs. Tecnobrega 150

6.2.2 Zizekian Mashup 156

6.3 Concluding Reflections 166

7 Remix(ing) Axiology 169

7.1 Elements of Remixology 170

7.1.1 Simulation 170

7.1.2 Repetition 171

7.1.3 Unauthorized 172

7.2 Applied Remixology 174

7.2.1 Competition 175

7.2.2 Decision 175

7.2.3 Finitude 176

7.3 Conclusions 176

Notes 179

References 183

Index 201

What People are Saying About This

Mark Coeckelbergh

Impressively ranging from Plato's bootleg to contemporary music, Of Remixology reveals the value of the bastards and samples—of our age and of previous times—and provides an axiological map that engenders new cultural-philosophical territory for the twenty-first century. Compulsory reading for philosophers, students of media and communication, lawyers interested in intellectual property and copyright, lovers of music, and indeed, all users-producers of our time. Highly recommended.

Endorsement

This is an engaging, provocative, and brave book. Revealing the metaphysical assumptions behind the current positions on borrowing and appropriation—both those in favor of, and against, traditional forms of copyright—David Gunkel skillfully demonstrates how our very notions of 'original' and 'copy' are already a by-product of the logic of reproduction. In a playfully blasphemous gesture that will resonate with many media users today, he proposes the figure of the 'remix DJ' as a follow-up to the modernist model of the author as a singular genius.

—Joanna Zylinska, Professor of New Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London; author of Bioethics in the Age of New Media and coauthor of Life after New Media

From the Publisher

Impressively ranging from Plato's bootleg to contemporary music, Of Remixology reveals the value of the bastards and samples—of our age and of previous times—and provides an axiological map that engenders new cultural-philosophical territory for the twenty-first century. Compulsory reading for philosophers, students of media and communication, lawyers interested in intellectual property and copyright, lovers of music, and indeed, all users-producers of our time. Highly recommended.

—Mark Coeckelbergh, Professor of Technology and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, UK; author of Growing Moral Relations, Human Being @ Risk, and Money Machines

This is an engaging, provocative, and brave book. Revealing the metaphysical assumptions behind the current positions on borrowing and appropriation—both those in favor of, and against, traditional forms of copyright—David Gunkel skillfully demonstrates how our very notions of 'original' and 'copy' are already a by-product of the logic of reproduction. In a playfully blasphemous gesture that will resonate with many media users today, he proposes the figure of the 'remix DJ' as a follow-up to the modernist model of the author as a singular genius.

—Joanna Zylinska, Professor of New Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, University of London; author of Bioethics in the Age of New Media and coauthor of Life after New Media

Joanna Zylinska

This is an engaging, provocative, and brave book. Revealing the metaphysical assumptions behind the current positions on borrowing and appropriation—both those in favor of, and against, traditional forms of copyright—David Gunkel skillfully demonstrates how our very notions of 'original' and 'copy' are already a by-product of the logic of reproduction. In a playfully blasphemous gesture that will resonate with many media users today, he proposes the figure of the 'remix DJ' as a follow-up to the modernist model of the author as a singular genius.

Editorial Reviews

...a fascinating and essential addition to the growing body of scholarship on remix studies.—Popular Music and Society—

From the Publisher