What are the future prospects for literary knowledge now that literary texts—and the material remains of authorship, publishing, and reading—are reduced to bitstreams, strings of digital ones and zeros? What are the opportunities and obligations for book history, textual criticism, and bibliography when literary texts are distributed across digital platforms, devices, formats, and networks? Indeed, what is textual scholarship when the "text" of our everyday speech is a verb as often as it is a noun?
These are the questions that motivate Matthew G. Kirschenbaum in Bitstreams, a distillation of twenty years of thinking about the intersection of digital media, textual studies, and literary archives. With an intimate narrative style that belies the cold technics of computing, Kirschenbaum takes the reader into the library where all access to Toni Morrison's "papers" is mediated by digital technology; to the bitmapped fonts of Kamau Brathwaite's Macintosh; to the process of recovering and restoring fourteen lost "HyperPoems" by the noted poet William Dickey; and finally, into the offices of Melcher Media, a small boutique design studio reimagining the future of the codex.
A persistent theme is that bits—the ubiquitous ones and zeros of computing—are never self-identical, but always inflected by the material realities of particular systems, platforms, and protocols. These materialities are not liabilities: they are the very bulwark on which we stake the enterprise for preserving the future of literary heritage.

About the Author

Matthew G. Kirschenbaum is author of Mechanisms: New Media and the Forensic Imagination and Track Changes: A Literary History of Word Processing. He is Professor of English and Digital Studies at the University of Maryland, College Park.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

Store Description

Better World Books (https://www.BetterWorldBooks.com) is a for-profit, socially conscious business and a global online bookseller that collects and sells new and used books online, matching each purchase with a book donation. Each sale generates funds for literacy and education initiatives in the U.S., the UK, and around the world. Since its launch in 2003, Better World Books has raised $33 million for libraries and literacy, donated over 32 million books, and reused or recycled more than 397 million books.

Visit Seller's Storefront

Seller's business information

Better World Books Marketplace, Inc.
55740 Currant Road, Mishawaka, IN, 46545, U.S.A.

Sale & Shipping Terms

Terms of Sale

Better World Books (BWB) values your satisfaction and offers you returns within thirty (30) days after the estimated delivery date on most items. All returned items must be in the original condition; used items should include the SKU sticker located on the spine or back of the product.

If you have an incomplete, incorrect, or damaged shipment, please contact our Customer Care team via Abebooks contact seller options before proceeding with the return.Please keep in mind that because we deal mostl...

More Information

Right of cancellation

Shipping Terms

Please allow 1-2 business days for order fulfillment.

Shipping rates from U.S.A. to United Kingdom

Shipping rates from U.S.A. to United Kingdom
Order quantity	7 to 21 business days	7 to 21 business days
First item	� 4.07	� 4.07

Delivery times are set by sellers and vary by carrier and location. Orders passing through Customs may face delays and buyers are responsible for any associated duties or fees. Sellers may contact you regarding additional charges to cover any increased costs to ship your items.