Rape and the Memex

Article


Johnson, Laurie. 2008. "Rape and the Memex." Refractory: a journal of entertainment media. 13.
Article Title

Rape and the Memex

ERA Journal ID35353
Article CategoryArticle
Authors
AuthorJohnson, Laurie
Journal TitleRefractory: a journal of entertainment media
Journal Citation13
Number of Pages20
Year2008
Place of PublicationMelbourne, Australia
ISSN1447-4905
Web Address (URL)http://blogs.arts.unimelb.edu.au/refractory/2008/05/22/rape-and-the-memex-laurence-johnson/
Abstract

This essay tracks conflicting messages of embodiment and symbolic exchange in the infamous “Mr. Bungle” affair in which a chatroom avatar was forcibly removed from the participant’s control. I argue that many scholarly treatments recapitulate a binary of real and virtual space in order to evaluate the event according to broader social norms, rather than attending to its specific material context. A discussion of the history of the internet and Vannevar Bush’s ‘memex’ authorises a more nuanced reading of the metaphor of rape in terms of systematised memory and narrativity.

Keywordsinternet, cyberspace, cyber rape, bungle affair, Julian Dibbell, Vannevar Bush, memex, narrative
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020460806. Human-computer interaction
500310. Phenomenology
500103. Ethical use of new technology
470203. Consumption and everyday life
Public Notes

File reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher/author.

Byline AffiliationsSchool of Humanities and Communication
Permalink -

https://research.usq.edu.au/item/9yv7y/rape-and-the-memex

Download files

  • 2084
    total views
  • 620
    total downloads
  • 3
    views this month
  • 1
    downloads this month

Export as

Related outputs

Jonson's Two Prologues to Epicœne: Libel, Print, and Play
Johnson, Laurie. 2024. "Jonson's Two Prologues to Epicœne: Libel, Print, and Play." The Explicator. https://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2024.2428981
The Origins of Repertory in English Drama; or, How to Find Needles in Haystacks
Johnson, Laurie. 2024. "The Origins of Repertory in English Drama; or, How to Find Needles in Haystacks." Medieval and Renaissance Drama in England: an annual gathering of research, criticism, and reviews. 37, pp. 35-66.
Shakespeare's First Folio: Opening the Time Capsule
Johnson, Laurie. Kamaralli, Anna (ed.) 2024. Shakespeare's First Folio: Opening the Time Capsule. Australia. WestWords.
Beyond Master Narratives: A Reassessment of the Apprentice Riot of 1592
Johnson, Laurie and Dunnum, Eric. 2023. "Beyond Master Narratives: A Reassessment of the Apprentice Riot of 1592." Huntington Library Quarterly: studies in English and American history and literature. 86 (4), pp. 587-612. https://doi.org/10.1353/hlq.2023.a944188
Introduction: Properties of Matter and Performance
Tavares, Elizabeth E., MacLeod, Emily and Johnson, Laurie. 2023. "Introduction: Properties of Matter and Performance." Shakespeare. 19 (1), pp. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450918.2023.2183085
Leicester's Men and their Plays: An Early Elizabethan Playing Company and its Legacy
Johnson, Laurie. 2023. Leicester's Men and their Plays: An Early Elizabethan Playing Company and its Legacy. United Kingdom. Cambridge University Press.
Why Shakespeare Should Change as Well as Challenge
Johnson, Laurie. 2022. "Why Shakespeare Should Change as Well as Challenge." English in Australia. 57 (2), pp. 13-21.
The Nose Plays: Nasiform Negotiations at Newington Butts
Johnson, Laurie. 2023. "The Nose Plays: Nasiform Negotiations at Newington Butts." Shakespeare. 19 (1), pp. 24-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/17450918.2023.2183086
Access Points: Stage, Space, and/as Interface in the Early Modern Playhouses
Johnson, Laurie. 2023. "Access Points: Stage, Space, and/as Interface in the Early Modern Playhouses." Werier, Clifford and Budra, Paul (ed.) The Routledge Handbook of Shakespeare and Interface. United States. Routledge. pp. 285-296
Playhouses and performance
Johnson, Laurie. 2023. "Playhouses and performance." Michelle, Dowd M. and Rutter, Tom (ed.) The Arden Handbook of Shakespeare and Early Modern Drama: Perspectives on Culture, Performance and Identity. London, United Kingdom. Bloomsbury Academic. pp. 129-146
The location of Cultural Studies: a contextually contingent account of Cultural Studies’ praxis
Hickey, Andrew and Johnson, Laurie. 2022. "The location of Cultural Studies: a contextually contingent account of Cultural Studies’ praxis." Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2022.2071838
Unique Lines and the Ambient Heart of Q1 Hamlet
Johnson, Laurie. 2022. "Unique Lines and the Ambient Heart of Q1 Hamlet." Bourus, Terri (ed.) Shakespeare and the First Hamlet. United States. Berghahn Books. pp. 162-179
Ancestry.com [Digital resource review]
Johnson, Laurie. 2022. "Ancestry.com [Digital resource review]." Early Modern Digital Review. 4 (4), pp. 250-254. https://doi.org/10.33137/rr.v44i4.38657
Borrowed robes and garbled transmissions: echoes of Shakespeare's dwarfish thief
Johnson, Laurie. 2016. "Borrowed robes and garbled transmissions: echoes of Shakespeare's dwarfish thief." TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses. 20 (Special Issue 36), pp. 1-17. https://doi.org/10.52086/001c.27049
Introduction: Repertory, Dramaturgy, and Embodiment
Tavares, Elizabeth and Johnson, Laurie. 2022. "Introduction: Repertory, Dramaturgy, and Embodiment." Early Theatre: a journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama. 25 (2), pp. 115-130. https://doi.org/10.12745/et.25.2.4732
Reassessing Early Theatre Patronage with New Perspectives on John Dudley
Johnson, Laurie. 2022. "Reassessing Early Theatre Patronage with New Perspectives on John Dudley." Shakespeare Studies: an annual gathering of research, criticism and review. 50, pp. 153-171.
Bowen's recesses: from realism to inter-objectivity
Johnson, Laurie. 2019. "Bowen's recesses: from realism to inter-objectivity." Gildersleeve, Jessica and Smith, Patrica Juliana (ed.) Elizabeth Bowen: theory, thought and things. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 127-144
'The end of all': how a forgotten map helped us forget Newington Butts
Johnson, Laurie. 2020. "'The end of all': how a forgotten map helped us forget Newington Butts." Norrie, Aidan and Houlahan, Mark (ed.) New directions in early modern English drama: edges, spaces, intersections. Berlin / Boston. De Gruyter Open Sp. z o.o.. pp. 151-174
Puck, Philostrate and the locus of A Midsummer Night's Dream's topical allegory
Johnson, Laurie. 2020. "Puck, Philostrate and the locus of A Midsummer Night's Dream's topical allegory." Bladen, Victoria and Brailowsky, Yan (ed.) Shakespeare and the supernatural. Manchester, United Kingdom. Manchester University Press. pp. 157-172
Not So Tedious Ways to Think about the Locations of the Early Playhouses
Johnson, Laurie. 2020. "Not So Tedious Ways to Think about the Locations of the Early Playhouses." Hopkins, Lisa and Angus, Bill (ed.) Reading the Road, from Shakespeare's Crossways to Bunyan's Highways. Edinburgh, United Kingdom. Edinburgh University Press. pp. 107-126
Unique lines and the ambient heart of Q1 Hamlet
Johnson, Laurie. 2019. "Unique lines and the ambient heart of Q1 Hamlet." Critical Survey. 31 (1/2), pp. 130-143. https://doi.org/10.3167/cs.2019.31010210
From guilds to state censors: early modern stationers, regulation, and printing plays
Johnson, Laurie. 2019. "From guilds to state censors: early modern stationers, regulation, and printing plays." Baker, Dallas John, Brien, Donna Lee and Webb, Jen (ed.) Publishing and culture. Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 260-273
Thomas Cavendish on the early modern stage
Johnson, Laurie and McInnis, David. 2018. "Thomas Cavendish on the early modern stage." Notes & Queries. https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjy139
Who performed at Newington Butts in 1586?
Johnson, Laurie. 2018. "Who performed at Newington Butts in 1586?" Early Theatre: a journal associated with the Records of Early English Drama. 21 (2), pp. 29-48. https://doi.org/10.12745/et.21.2.3581
Shakespeare source study in the age of Google: revisiting Greenblatt's elephants and Horatio's ground
Greatley-Hirsch, Brett and Johnson, Laurie. 2018. "Shakespeare source study in the age of Google: revisiting Greenblatt's elephants and Horatio's ground." Britton, Dennis Austin and Walter, Melissa (ed.) Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies. United States. Routledge. pp. 253-278
Shakespeare's lost playhouse: eleven days at Newington Butts
Johnson, Laurie. 2018. Shakespeare's lost playhouse: eleven days at Newington Butts. New York. Routledge.
The two names of Newington Butts
Johnson, Laurie. 2017. "The two names of Newington Butts." Shakespeare Quarterly. 68 (2), pp. 192-198. https://doi.org/10.1353/shq.2017.0019
The possibility of saying in the early modern playhouses
Johnson, Laurie. 2017. "The possibility of saying in the early modern playhouses." Textual Practice. https://doi.org/10.1080/0950236X.2016.1277258
Pictures of Lyly: digital corruptions and biographical truths
Johnson, Laurie. 2017. "Pictures of Lyly: digital corruptions and biographical truths." Baker, Dallas john, Brien, Donna Lee and Sulway, Nike (ed.) Recovering history through fact and fiction: forgotten lives. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 146-157
Quaint knowledge: a 'body-mind' pattern across Shakespeare's career
Johnson, Laurie. 2014. "Quaint knowledge: a 'body-mind' pattern across Shakespeare's career." Kambaskovic, Danijela (ed.) Conjunctions of Mind, Soul and Body from Plato to the Enlightenment. Germany. Springer. pp. 279-301
Re-cognising the body-mind in Shakespeare's theatre [Introduction]
Johnson, Laurie, Sutton, John and Tribble, Evelyn. 2014. "Re-cognising the body-mind in Shakespeare's theatre [Introduction]." Johnson, Laurie, Sutton, John and Tribble, Evelyn (ed.) Embodied cognition and Shakespeare's theatre: the early modern body-mind. Abingdon, OX. United Kingdom. Routledge. pp. 1-12
Cogito Ergo Theatrum: Redistributing Cognition on the Early Modern Stage
Johnson, Laurie. 2014. "Cogito Ergo Theatrum: Redistributing Cognition on the Early Modern Stage ." Johnson, Laurie, Sutton, John and Tribble, Evelyn (ed.) Embodied cognition and Shakespeare's theatre: the early modern body-mind. United Kingdom. Routledge. pp. 216-234
Caesar in Elsinore and elsewhere: topicality and Roman history
Johnson, Laurie. 2016. "Caesar in Elsinore and elsewhere: topicality and Roman history." Early Modern Literary Studies: a journal of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature.
Pedagogy, place and performance: the role of touring performing arts in regional Queensland - a review of Opera Queensland’s project Rossini
Hickey, Andrew, Johnson, Laurie, Scollen, Rebecca and Forbes, Melissa. 2016. Pedagogy, place and performance: the role of touring performing arts in regional Queensland - a review of Opera Queensland’s project Rossini. Toowoomba, Australia. University of Southern Queensland.
The distributed consciousness of Shakespeare's theatre
Johnson, Laurie. 2016. "The distributed consciousness of Shakespeare's theatre." Budra, Paul and Werier, Clifford (ed.) Shakespeare and consciousness. New York. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 119-138
Unremembered: memorial, sentimentality, dislocation
Johnson, Laurie. 2015. "Unremembered: memorial, sentimentality, dislocation." Goodall, Jane and Lee, Christopher (ed.) Trauma and public memory. London. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 70-84
The Tain of Hamlet
Johnson, Laurie. 2013. The Tain of Hamlet. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Unthinking Hamlet: stage, page, and critical thought
Johnson, Laurie. 2013. "Unthinking Hamlet: stage, page, and critical thought." Flaherty, Kate, Gay, Penny and Semler, L. E. (ed.) Teaching Shakespeare beyond the centre: Australasian perspectives. Basingstoke, Hants. United Kingdom. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 63-74
Cryptonymic secretion: on the kind-ness of strangers
Johnson, Laurie. 2013. "Cryptonymic secretion: on the kind-ness of strangers." Thwaites, Tony and Seaboyer, Judith (ed.) Re-reading Derrida: perspectives on mourning and its hospitalities. Lanham, MD. United States. Lexington Books. pp. 117-129
Spectral machinery (or beyond essence and system)
Johnson, Laurie. 2012. "Spectral machinery (or beyond essence and system)." The Journal of Philosophy. 7 (17), pp. 40-59. https://doi.org/10.5840/jphilnepal20127175
'To pay our wonted tribute,' or topical specificity in Cymbeline
Johnson, Laurie. 2012. "'To pay our wonted tribute,' or topical specificity in Cymbeline." Harmes, Marcus K., Henderson, Lindsay, Harmes, Barbara and Antonio, Amy (ed.) The British World: Religion, Memory, Society, Culture (2012). Toowoomba, Australia 02 - 05 Jul 2012 Toowoomba, Australia.
Between form and function: history and identity in the blogosphere
Johnson, Laurie. 2012. "Between form and function: history and identity in the blogosphere." Cultural Studies Review. 18 (1), pp. 59-85.
"Nobler in the mind": The emergence of early modern anxiety
Johnson, Laurie. 2009. ""Nobler in the mind": The emergence of early modern anxiety." AUMLA: Journal of the Australasian Universities Language and Literature Association. pp. 141-156.
The idea of deep surfaces in cultural studies
Johnson, Laurie. 2009. "The idea of deep surfaces in cultural studies." International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. 3 (12), pp. 105-111.
The Unstated
Johnson, Laurie. 2007. "The Unstated ." Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies. 21 (4), pp. 521-531. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310701629987
Ill-disciplined (bodies of thought)
Johnson, Laurie. 2007. "Ill-disciplined (bodies of thought)." International Journal of Interdisciplinary Social Sciences. 2 (1), pp. 37-42.
RSVP
Johnson, Laurie. 2000. "RSVP." Paragraph: a journal of modern critical theory. 23 (2), pp. 157-172.
I wish to dream and other impossible effects of the crypt
Johnson, Laurie. 2005. "I wish to dream and other impossible effects of the crypt." Psychoanalytic Review. 92 (5), pp. 735-746. https://doi.org/10.1521/prev.2005.92.5.701
Rapt in secret studies and emergence in Shakespeare studies [Introduction]
Chalk, Darryl and Johnson, Laurie. 2010. "Rapt in secret studies and emergence in Shakespeare studies [Introduction]." Chalk, Darryl and Johnson, Laurie (ed.) Rapt in secret studies: emerging Shakespeares. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 1-8
Shakespeare's gifts: self-fashioning, authorising, Stephen Greenblatt
Johnson, Laurie. 2010. "Shakespeare's gifts: self-fashioning, authorising, Stephen Greenblatt." Chalk, Darryl and Johnson, Laurie (ed.) Rapt in secret studies: emerging Shakespeares. Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kigndom. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. pp. 329-346
GUI faces/sticky ethics
Johnson, Laurie. 2010. "GUI faces/sticky ethics." Transformations.
A ghost of a chance, after all
Johnson, Laurie. 2009. "A ghost of a chance, after all." Derrida Today. 2 (2), pp. 166-176. https://doi.org/10.3366/E1754850009000505
Differing returns: on history, bodies and early modern lives
Johnson, Laurie. 2009. "Differing returns: on history, bodies and early modern lives." Early Modern Literary Studies: a journal of sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature.
Face-interface or the prospect of a virtual ethics
Johnson, Laurie. 2007. "Face-interface or the prospect of a virtual ethics." Ethical Space: the international journal of communication ethics. 4 (1/2), pp. 49-56.
Speculations on the emergence of a cultural practice
Johnson, Laurie. 2007. "Speculations on the emergence of a cultural practice." Mead, David and Frelik, Pawel (ed.) Playing the universe: games and gaming in science fiction. Lublin. Maria Curie-Sklodowska University Press. pp. 177-193
The Wolf Man's burden
Johnson, Laurie. 2001. The Wolf Man's burden. New York, USA. Cornell University Press.
Sick puppies and other unbecoming things
Johnson, Laurie. 2001. "Sick puppies and other unbecoming things." M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Culture. 4 (3).
Felix and Gilles's tempestuous, monstrous machine
Johnson, Laurie. 1999. "Felix and Gilles's tempestuous, monstrous machine." M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Culture. 2 (6).
Dreaming 'My Death'
Johnson, Laurie. 1999. "Dreaming 'My Death'." M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Culture. 2 (8).
Agency, beyond strange cultural loops
Johnson, Laurie. 2002. "Agency, beyond strange cultural loops." M/C Journal: A Journal of Media and Culture. 5 (4).
Out of the shadow of Brisbane: CBD development and local identity
Johnson, Laurie. 2004. "Out of the shadow of Brisbane: CBD development and local identity." Eucalypt: The Australian Studies Centre Journal. 3, pp. 49-60.
Thinking beyond the brain: embodiment and the psycho-somatic
Johnson, Laurie. 2002. "Thinking beyond the brain: embodiment and the psycho-somatic." International Journal of Critical Psychology. 5, pp. 51-70.
Tracing calculation [calque calcul] between Nicolas Abraham and Jacques Derrida
Johnson, Laurie. 2000. "Tracing calculation [calque calcul] between Nicolas Abraham and Jacques Derrida." Postmodern Culture: an electronic journal of interdisciplinary criticism. 10 (3).
The unstated
Johnson, Laurie. 2006. "The unstated." Cultural Studies Association of Australasia Annual Conference (CSAA 2006). Canberra, Australia 06 - 08 Dec 2006