Imprint and trace : handwriting in the age of technology

367 Pages·2011·3.07 MB·English

by  Mathews

Imprint
and Trace
Handwriting in the Age
of Technology
Sonja Neef

imprint andtrace

Imprint and Trace
Handwriting in the Age of Technology
Sonja Neef
reaktion books
For Martin, Jonas and Vera
Published by Reaktion Books Ltd
33Great Sutton Street
London ec1v 0dx, uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
This book was first published in 2008by Kulturverlag Kadmos Berlin as
Abdruck und Spur: Handschrift im Zeitalter ihrer technischen
Reproduzierbarkeit.
First published in English in 2011.
English language translation by Anthony Mathews
English language translationcopyright © Reaktion Books 2011.
The translation was funded with the aid of the Faculty of Media,
Bauhaus-University Weimar.
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopy-
ing, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Printed and bound in Great Britain
by cpiAntony Rowe, Chippenham, Wiltshire
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Neef, Sonja.
Imprint and trace : handwriting in the age of technology.
1. Penmanship –History.
2. Writing –Materials and instruments –History.
3. Written communication –Technological innovations.
I. Title
652.1’09-dc22
isbn: 978 1 86189 653 7
Contents
. . . before Aleph 7
Introduction: Manus ex machina 17
Before a Stele 28
1Exergue: Imprint and Trace 31
Before a Line 49
2Preamble: Scribing On 57
Before a Cookery Book 89
3Prolegomenon: Writing and Technology 93
Before a Photograph 134
4Fore-Word: A Distance, However Close 137
Before a Hand 158
5The Screen Saver: Screen-Writing and Hand-Saving 161
Before a Postcard 188
6The Diary: Anne Frank versus Kujau-Hitler 191
Before a Grave 233
7Tattooing: Performing Perforation 237
Before a Wall 264
8Graffiti: Passages of Writing 267
9Paralipomena: This Side of Writing 297
After Omega 303
References 304
Bibliography 347
. . . before Aleph
Then we begin with the Aof ABC.
It has always been at the very start of things.
It is the first letter of our Alphabet
and likewise the first letter of the Greek alphabet.
The first letter of the Hebrew alphabet is Aleph.
The first letter of the Arabic alphabet is Alif, and they both represent
the number 1.