Constructos flatline: Materialismo gótico y teoría-ficción cibernética

by Mark Fisher

Constructos Flatline es la tesis doctoral de Mark Fisher, presentada en la Universidad de Warwick en 1999 y destinada a circular como una obra de culto en la blogósfera. Apenas unos años antes, Fisher había sido un activo integrante de la CCRU [Unidad de Investigaciones sobre Cultura Cibernética], un colectivo transdisciplinario y experimental surgido en los márgenes académicos y cuyas indagaciones se nutrían tanto de la filosofía rizomática de Deleuze y Guattari como de la cibernética, el ocultismo, el ciberpunk, de la cultura rave y el ciberfeminismo. Esa conjunción de enfoques, que coinciden en desplazar al sujeto humano del centro de interés en favor de las fuerzas activas de la materia, se expresa con nitidez aquí, y puede leerse como el andamiaje teórico sobre el que Fisher construirá luego el resto de su obra, a la vez que como un antecedente de corrientes de pensamiento contemporáneas como el aceleracionismo y los nuevos materialismos.

Donna Haraway escribió que “las máquinas están inquietantemente vivas, mientras nosotros estamos aterradoramente inertes”. Esa cita encierra el interrogante que Fisher persigue en este texto, como un modo de desentrañar los efectos del capitalismo actual. Ya no la remanida pregunta sobre qué pasaría si las máquinas estuvieran vivas, sino algo mucho más inquietante: ¿y si nosotros estamos tan “muertos” como las máquinas? Como para el momento de escritura de esta tesis la filosofía apenas se había atrevido a barrer las distinciones heredadas de la concepción moderna (sujeto/objeto, humano/no humano), Fisher encontrará sus principales aliados en la literatura de William Gibson, J.G. Ballard, Philip K. Dick y William Burroughs, y en películas como Blade Runner, Terminator y Videodrome. La noción de flatline, por ejemplo, que en la jerga paramédica refiere a la línea plana del electroencefalograma pero que en la novela ciberpunk Neuromante designa una zona intermedial en la que ya no es posible diferenciar lo animado de lo inanimado, permite señalar la convergencia entre la automatización cibernética y las figuras góticas del zombi, el vampiro y el autómata. Esta reactualización de lo gótico, en combinación con una perspectiva radicalmente materialista, nos permite participar de manera afirmativa en un mundo en el que el sujeto no solo ha perdido su centralidad, sino que es cada vez más el resultado de la acción impersonal de la técnica.

Genres: Philosophy, Theory, Nonfiction, Politics, Psychology, Art, Cyberpunk

360 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

About the author

Mark Fisher (1968 – 2017) was a co-founder of Zero Books and Repeater Books. His blog, k-punk, defined critical writing for a generation. He wrote three books, Capitalist Realism, Ghosts of My Life and The Weird and the Eerie, and was a Visiting Fellow in the Visual Cultures department at Goldsmiths, University of London.

Librarian’s note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Likely my favorite Fisher so far, though it is but a PhD dissertation. There is a certain idealism here which one can't hope to approach seriously. Once one unpacks the jargon there are potential futures, ones almost exclusively poetic, rather than anything practical. I am troubled by the overreliance on Neuromancer . Apparently, this was the gospel with CCRU clique. Another coin of that realm was the term cybernetics, one which becomes so general as to appear inert if not meaningless.

There are interesting explanations of Bodies without Organs (from Deleuze and Guattari -- hence known as BwO via D&G) and explorations of Marshall McLuhan horror cinema and the prescriptive ontology of William S Burroughs. Shelley's Frankenstein goes through the looking glass--or is it Nick Land's Black Mirror? The work concludes with a detailed reading of John Carpenter's In the Mouth of Madness (1994). This entire work appears hinged on a quote by Donna Haraway: "our machines are disturbingly lively, while we ourselves are frighteningly inert"-- this is brought back around to the Carpenter film by parsing automation and reproduction whether through a virus, enchantment or Fordism. Thus the hyper horror of Carpenter's altered reality (mirrored in Cronenberg's Videodrome) leads to BwOs or serial neutered loops i.e. the average Tik-Tok user.

[Lily · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Aung Sett Kyaw Min · Rating 3 out of 5]

Are you fan of cyberpunk fiction? Do you read contemporary theory? This book might be for you.
Here Fisher (re)constructs the geneology of a kind of materialism radically indifferent to bifurcations (organic/inorganic, vitalism/materialism, subject/object, life/death) that are increasingly losing their ontological and cultural purchase in the age of cybernetics and feedback circuits, no longer able to contain the subterranean complicities swarming underneath the metastable surface.
This materialism, according to him, is anticipated, theorized, and fictionalized by and in the works of Philip K. Dick, Gibson, Ballard, Burroughs, Weiner and Baudrillard and Deleuze-Guatarri.
Baudrillard recognized the stakes at hand, namely, the liquadation of the boundary between the fictional and the Real (the monstrous proliferation of what he calls third order simulacra--copies without originals), but lapsed back into primitivism at the final instance, whereas Deleuze-Guattari celebrate this dissolution as heralding everywhere a metaphysics of immanence.
Cyberpunk fiction best exemplifies this feedback loop between theory and fiction.
While that being said, this work is largely an exercise in literary criticism.
Fisher overquotes authors in several places.
However, insofar as the basic thesis is concerned, the book is meticulously researched and competently argued.

[Dylan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ground has to be ceded to the fact that this is a published dissertation, not a traditional published work of non-fiction. It is unfair to fully think about it in the same way that I thought about Capitalist Realism, Ghosts of My Life or The Weird and the Eerie. However, this text reeks of Fisher struggling to find his footing and to fluff his language and word-count up to some university accepted level. Every once in a while Fisher reaches lucidity and analyzes his subject creatively and clearly. The rest of the time it is overly verbose and honestly a real slog to get through.

[Milo Galiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

El mejor ensayo que me he leído sin duda. Fisher me ha destrozado, me ha recompuesto y me ha roto prejuicios enormes que tenía, como que hay ingleses interesantes después de todo (broma).

Quizá la única pega que le pondría es que hay pasajes en los que no escucho su voz, sino citas consecutivas sin fin. Aun así, las partes buenas son TAN buenas, que no hay fallo.

[Roberto Yoed · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's like reading Nick Land but without the drug addiction.

Excellent sociological, cultural, psychological and film analysis.

My only problem is everytime Baudrillard is the central point of discussion: speaking as a geographer, Baudrillard has done more damage to our discipline than Friedrich Ratzel.

[Santiago M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most likely my favorite Fisher thus far and a very engaging read. Perhaps this is the book that has most rewarded me when it comes to previous, contextual works needed to understand it.

A mapping of our schizophrenic late-capitalist times, rapidly advancing towards darker futures (with more opportunities to ride flight lines towards other multiplicities, nevertheless).

[Sophia]

If I had met Fisher in his lifetime... I would tell him that everything is going to be fine. His friends should have been around more often for memorable drinks, coffees and talks. There has to have been a time before the onslaught of his anxieties...Fisher is a detrimentalist in his imaginings and the origins are due to Baudrillard's attitude in his work on simulations. It influences Fisher's thought processes too much and in such a way that makes any potential within a fatal strategy, a personal sabotuer.

[Marcie Mayfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rly enjoyed the parallels to sci-fi and horror especially 💖

[Danny Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't read any critical theory for a while and based on the title alone I was worried that this would be intentionally obfuscatory and fairly impenetrable, which it is, but once I got back into the swing of things I also found it really engaging and rewarding.

Fisher essentially argues that our increasingly technological society has blurred the lines between life and death, the human and the nonhuman, fiction and reality. This has led to what he calls gothic materialism, where uncanny, monstrous, and ghostly forces that we once saw as supernatural have real material implications.

Most interestingly for me was how he uses this framework to read through a lot books and films that I'm already extremely into, and then uses those texts to elaborate the theory. Gibson, Burroughs, Ballard, Dick, Cronenberg, all the stars are here. Highly recommend if that's the type of stuff you're also into.

This honestly might have convinced me to get back into critical theory, stay tuned to see how it all plays out.

[fantova0]

Me lo compré porque me gustaba la portada sin saber nada de Fisher. Por primera vez leo a un tío que mezcla filosofía con cine, literatura, sociología, etc, y me gustó mucho mi puto rollo. Mola que no esté constantemente presentando sus ideas, sino simplemente relacionando autores con cosas culturales por la cara. Buen libro para bajarle los humitos a las flipadas antitecnológicas que les encanta hacerse las víctimas y quejarse del chatgpt, luego se hacen una excursión y lo primero la historia de instagram. Chica asume que la tecnología define toda tu vida bienvenida al siglo XXI vale?. Gracias a Fisher puedo decir que no soy adicto al móvil, soy materialista gótico y cyberpunk e Internet ha construido toda mi identidad sin él no sería nada.

[Herm · Rating 5 out of 5]

a flattening of the inorganic & organic into a single plane with frightening implications for the intelligences that we live with

[Noah Coates · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant work that strives to create new concepts and ways of thinking in the face of a changing capitalist landscape. I appreciate the way he uses Marx and his interpretation of and engagement with Baudrillard is valued.

[Yaniz · Rating 4 out of 5]

El algoritmo
Nunca sabrá
Lo que es el amor
Pero a nadie le importa
El fin del mundo tampoco es una opción.

[Martyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

bardzo ciekawa rozprawa doktorska. bardzo podobały mi się odniesienia do science-fiction i horroru i to jak elegancko zostały wplecione w różne teorie filozofiiczne

[Javee]

Qué bien se siente leer a alguien mucho más listo que t�� hablando de las mismas frikadas que te gustan

[Wei Lin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such an insanely good work of philosophy and literary criticism. It was a little daunting to go through at first, but reading it closely while taking notes was extremely rewarding and I got a lot out of it. On one level, the book functions as a lucid introduction to and clarification of a variety of things, both familiar and unfamiliar. (The concepts of Baudrillard and Deleuze-Guattari are the main meat of the content, though there's also forays into media theory, cybernetics and literary criticism.) On another level, Fisher's intriguing analyses of Ballard and Gibson made me want to read more of their fiction.

The main takeaway, I think, comes in the final section: "fiction as contagion, fiction as artificial intelligence, fiction which makes itself real." (178) Fiction itself is a kind of technical system - an inorganic entity - that has a capacity to affect reality. Fiction thus has agency - a capacity to react - and agency is not limited to organic entities or entities with consciousness. Fiction is like a demon or a virus, requiring a host to perform its agency and propagate itself. Does this mean that if fiction does not have a reader, it does not have the capacity to influence reality (because there is no belief or hype for the potential of its becoming-real)?

I see how most of Fisher's ideas here (especially when retracing the hopefulness of Deleuze-Guattari in the later chapters back to Baudrillard's pessimism in the earlier ones) formed the groundwork which allowed him to then write his more famous book on capitalist realism, which definitely feels more pessimistic even though some optimism seems to come in right at very end, unrealized though it may be. Maybe in Flatline Constructs, if we look closely enough, it's possible to find an alternative to capitalist realism by following the traces of Deleuze-Guattari back over the earlier Baudrillardian chapters...

[Jake5v · Rating 4 out of 5]

my dates are total bullshit here I've been chipping away at this bad boy for months.

I won't pretend I read this closely enough to give a comprehensive critique of the ideas presented, but a part of me was hoping that they would be wrapped up a bit more cleaner in the end. I've never read a PHD dissertation before so idk maybe they're just like that.

Honestly, I can't be mad though. This thing has infected my interests. It gives theory, science fiction, cyberpunk, and horror a new sense of relevance and immediacy. It's motivated me to check out what feels like a whole new genre of fiction in Gibson, Ballard, Burroughs, etc. Definitely a big one for me!

[Chowder 3108 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fisher is flying along at a mile-a-minute in this dissertation turned book, invoking a dizzying array of theorists and ideas in an almost feverish pursuit of this notion of a Gotchic Materialism. I'm not totally sure he is able to create a comprehensive or rigorous framework with these ideas, and I have to confess that I'm not sure I fully understand most of what he says. At the same time though, his passion is so authentic and infectious that I found myself deeply enjoying this book, and the parts that I could understand were fascinating and quite illuminating.

[Bastián Olea Herrera · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremadamente inconexo, literalmente no tiene conclusión alguna, exageradamente críptico, en muchos momentos parece ser una corriente de conexiones que no van a ninguna parte, y que luego de cientos de páginas retoma fugazmente conceptos supuestamente centrales del texto. Tiene ideas interesantes y atrevidas, y como teoría ficción resulta estimulante, pero jamás concreta nada. La verdad, muy decepcionante.

[Venzic Barbosa · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not an casual read, deeply theoretical on posthumanism and experimental ideas with ghotic materialism and psychological thriller. Which is a relevant read in this AI generation and boom, the deep eery dialog between the struggles of understanding the complexity of human intelligence battling the difference in Artificial intelligence.

[Pablo Ignacio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pfff,pfff,pfff. Impotencia es la palabra que se me viene cuando leo a este señor. Ojalá no hubiese acabado como lo hizo. Es fundamental este trabajo para entender bajo que parámetros y métodos opera después en su obra madura. Interesante como siempre mi colega y sus referencias al arte.


8/10

[Joel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the best theory I've read in a while. RIP, Mark.

[Nick Bentz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wide-ranging and valuable resource. Really wonderful at giving you an idea of the blurring lines between fiction and reality and fiction and theory. Hard to believe this is a dissertation!

[luna dormit · Rating 4 out of 5]

rip mark fisher you would’ve loved serial experiments lain

[vr reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

"explain deleuze to me or I'll fucking kill you!"

[Maximiliano Albornoz Torres · Rating 5 out of 5]

Imprescindible para pensar el mundo que vivimos en el siglo XXI con el vertiginoso auge de las AI

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delivers on everything that “Mark Fisher on Neuromancer” promises

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too thick for this 🤯

[Ali Jones Alkazemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

jeg elsker deg, fish!:)))