Flatline Constructs Gothic Materialism and Cybernetic Theory-Fiction

this work traces out a metaphysics of capitalism by way of the genre of horror, science-fiction, psychoanalysis, deleuze & guattari, baudrillard, and marx. fisher makes sense of the present guided by the logic of gothic materialism. gothic because of the pervasive horror of our condition, and materialist because of its corporeality and irreparable link to the bodily register.

equally entertaining as it is concise. although it was his phd dissertation, published posthumously, the work is still relatively fresh considering the time that has passed (a full zodiac cycle at time of writing). he runs with the psychoanalytic critique of capitalism head-on, and makes a point in the first chapter, highlighting its limitations, but doesnt make an effort to transcend the framework.

highly recommend this work as a follow-up to capitalist realism, as he fleshes out his concepts here in just a little more detail. u should also read this if u enjoy his body of work in general.

Mark submitted this thesis to the University of Warwick in 1999 and earned his PhD. In it, he explores a radical plane of immanence, namely "the Gothic flatline" on which the anthropocentric tendency to give agency to inanimate objects is subverted, so that everything —animate or inanimate —is seen as 'dead'. Following Donna Haraway’s remark that "our machines are disturbingly lively, while we ourselves are frighteningly inert", Mark sets out to pursue this notion to its theoretical cybernetics limit: "What if we are as ‘dead’ as the machines"? As with his later published work, Mark adorns his theories with familiar media. This thesis contains his explorations of cybernetic themes in postmodern approaches and terms within the language of Horror [Deleuze-Guattari] such as vampirism, zombification, etc., Baudrillardian notions of "Science Fictional" body and what makes cyberpunk Gothic Materialist with its departure from an instrumental view of technology and the organs, analysis of David Cronenberg’s Videodrome, J. G. Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition, Samuel Butler's Erewhon and Gibson’s Neuromancer in lieu of Deleuze-Guattari's reconstructive arguments in Anti-Oedipus. The final chapter of the thesis focuses on the meaning of hyperfiction and establishes its position as a plane of radical immanence. While it is an enjoyable read —especially as it portrays a primary sketch of what later became Mark's signature prose and style of writing—it is not always easy and smooth, and gets quite technical at times; this is a thesis, after all. Being at least familiar with the numerous works of philosophy and literature that Mark draws from is helpful, if not necessary, for following his colorful train of thought.