Friedrich Kittler

Deborah Griggs (The University of Maryland)
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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…

568 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 19 March 2024.]

11684 Friedrich Kittler 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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