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The Soft Machine
The Soft Machine, originally published in 1985, represents a significant contribution to the study of contemporary literature in the larger cultural and scientific context. David Porush shows how the concepts of cybernetics and artificial intelligence that have sparked our present revolution in computer and information technology have also become the source for images and techniques in our most highly sophisticated literature, postmodern fiction by Barthelme, Barth, Pynchon, Beckett, Burroughs, Vonnegut and others.
With considerable skill, Porush traces the growth of "the metaphor of the machine" as it evolves both technologically and in literature of the twentieth century. He describes the birth of cybernetics, gives one of the clearest accounts for a lay audience of its major concepts and shows the growth of philosophical resistance to the mechanical model for human intelligence and communication which cybernetics promotes, a model that had grown increasingly influential in the previous decade. The Soft Machine shows postmodern fiction synthesizing the inviting metaphors and concepts of cybernetics with the ideals of art, a synthesis that results in what Porush calls "cybernetic fiction" alive to the myths and images of a cybernetic age.
With considerable skill, Porush traces the growth of "the metaphor of the machine" as it evolves both technologically and in literature of the twentieth century. He describes the birth of cybernetics, gives one of the clearest accounts for a lay audience of its major concepts and shows the growth of philosophical resistance to the mechanical model for human intelligence and communication which cybernetics promotes, a model that had grown increasingly influential in the previous decade. The Soft Machine shows postmodern fiction synthesizing the inviting metaphors and concepts of cybernetics with the ideals of art, a synthesis that results in what Porush calls "cybernetic fiction" alive to the myths and images of a cybernetic age.
First published January 1, 1984
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 23, 2026
Mileage may vary, but I enjoyed this.
Seemed a bit like a dissertation turned book but still...
Here's the thing.
I'll enjoy any gloss of an author or work as long as it provokes thought about that work.
Have I read all the authors presented? No.
But the ones I have read I enjoyed Porush's gloss.
And the ones I haven't read, I enjoyed a bit more.
There's an interesting thesis here.
I think it has legs and adds something to the conversation about each of these authors.
He might be the most "off" about Burroughs, but whatever.
If you are interested in these authors, it's a worthwhile read.
Seemed a bit like a dissertation turned book but still...
Here's the thing.
I'll enjoy any gloss of an author or work as long as it provokes thought about that work.
Have I read all the authors presented? No.
But the ones I have read I enjoyed Porush's gloss.
And the ones I haven't read, I enjoyed a bit more.
There's an interesting thesis here.
I think it has legs and adds something to the conversation about each of these authors.
He might be the most "off" about Burroughs, but whatever.
If you are interested in these authors, it's a worthwhile read.
May 10, 2019
nice, erudite, but pretty shallow book, especially as a case of literary criticism. however, I liked his essay on McElroy`s Plus.
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February 17, 2022Maybe now I can finally understand Nick Land
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews