Friedrich Kittler

Deborah Griggs (The University of Maryland)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 1943
Died 18 Oct 2011
Activity 1984-2011

Places

Born in Germany
Active in Germany; United States

Activities

Primary

Cultural Theorist/ Critic
Literary Theorist

Resources

Kittler's Works

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Friedrich Kittler was born in Rochlitz, German Democratic Republic, in 1943. He is most often identified as a poststructuralist media theorist or, within this category, a proponent of posthuman, or posthumanist media theory. Kittler was a particularly controversial figure in Germany during the 1980s, mainly due to his use of poststructuralist method to create a radical alternative to traditional literary history, one based on a history of media technology and the systems of discourse developing from technological invention. According to Kittler, the publication of

Discourse Networks

in 1985 was accompanied by so much controversy that it almost cost him his post at Freiburg University. Since then, however, due in part to a series of guest lectureships in U.S. American universities as well…

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564 words

Citation: Griggs, Deborah. "Friedrich Kittler". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 February 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=11684, accessed 23 November 2024.]