The Demon of Writing

Powers and Failures of Paperwork

Ben Kafka

$65.95 $59.72

Paperback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Zone Books
23 June 2020

Communication studies; Media studies

Series: Zone Books

A history and theory of the powers, the failures, and even the pleasures of paperwork.

Since the middle of the eighteenth century, political thinkers of all kinds-radical and reactionary, professional and amateur-have been complaining about ""bureaucracy."" But what, exactly, are they complaining about?

In The Demon of Writing, Ben Kafka offers a critical history and theory of one of the most ubiquitous, least understood forms of media: paperwork. States rely on records to tax and spend, protect and serve, discipline and punish. But time and again, this paperwork proves to be unreliable. Examining episodes that range from the story of a clerk who lost his job and then his mind in the French Revolution to an account of Roland Barthes's brief stint as a university administrator, Kafka reveals the powers, the failures, and even the pleasures of paperwork. Many of its complexities, he argues, have been obscured by the comic-paranoid style that characterizes much of our criticism of bureaucracy. Kafka proposes a new theory of what Karl Marx called the ""bureaucratic medium."" Moving from Marx to Freud, he argues that this theory of paperwork must include both a theory of praxis and of parapraxis.

By: Ben Kafka
Imprint: Zone Books
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm, Spine: 23mm
Weight: 302g
ISBN: 9781942130352
ISBN 10: 194213035X
Series: Zone Books
Pages: 184
Publication Date: 23 June 2020
Audience: Professional and scholarly , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active

Ben Kafka is an Assistant Professor of Media History and Theory at New York University and a candidate at the Institute for Psychoanalytic Training and Research (IPTAR), a component society of the International Psychoanalytical Association. He works with adult and adolescent patients through the IPTAR Clinical Center and the NYC Free Clinic.

Reviews for The Demon of Writing: Powers and Failures of Paperwork

Kafka's book is a keen, vivacious examination of the frustrating 'unpredictability' of paperwork as a cultural institution. -Publishers Weekly [Kafka] pursues an argument that leads from paper to paperwork, 'the psychic life of paperwork,' the concepts of major thinkers...it is provocative, original, and a very good read. -Robert Darnton, The New York Review of Books Ben Kafka does the important job of reminding us that paperwork is part of the great human traditions, not only of communication and information, but also of revolution, existential philosophy, and for some, religion. -The New Republic Kafka examines the meaning and implications of this new regime, intertwining threads of historical narrative, psychoanalytic theory, and intriguing anecdotes into a thoroughly absorbing read. -Peter Lopatin, The Weekly Standard