James O'Sullivan

The equivalence of books: monographs, prestige, and the rise of edge cases

The digital has shifted the forms through which we present scholarship, and as academic projects become increasingly disconnected with the codex form, our conceptions of what constitutes an academic book warrants problematization. This is particularly so with ‘edge cases’, projects which look to collate, curate, and create thematically consistent critical insights on topics of relevance to the Arts and Humanities, using unfamiliar forms. This brief essay explores a selection of digital projects that might be classified as edge cases, interacting with relevant stakeholders through short surveys designed to determine why digital apparatus were favored. The purpose of this essay is to query whether such outliers can be considered, as exemplifiers of what is meant by an edge case, to be the equivalent of the academic book.

Reactions to Imagery Generated Using Computational Aesthetic Measures

This article examines whether textural generation system imagery evolved with computational aesthetic support can be judged as having aesthetic attributes, both when knowing and not knowing its true origin. Such a generation, depicting a digital landscape, is offered to two groups of participants to appraise. It is hypothesized that there will be no statistically significant difference between the groups on their appraisal of the image. Results from statistical analysis prove to be consistent with this hypothesis. A minority of participants, however, do exhibit significant differences in their perception of the image based on its means of production. This article explores and illustrates these differences.

Regarding the Joyce Word Dictionary

1 See Marc A. Mamigonian, John Turner, and Sam Slote, eds., “Ulysses” (Richmond: Alma Classics, 2012), and Mamigonian and Turner, eds., A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man (Richmond: Alma Classics, 2014). 2 Guy Debord, “Theory of the Dérive,” trans. Ken Knabb, Les Lévres Nues, 9 (November 1956), n.p., <www.cddc.vt.edu/sionline/si/theory/html>. 3 Ernest Renan, The Life of Jesus (London: Trübner, 1863).

The New Apparatus of Influence: Material Modernism in the Digital Age

Throughout this paper, I argue for a reapplication of those theories set out by George Bornstein in Material Modernism. More specifically, I suggest that Bornsteins work should be considered in the context of the textual and literary constructs of the digital age. I begin with an account of those elements from Bornsteins argument that I consider to be of most relevance to this particular discourse, giving particular consideration to what he refers to as the ‘bibliographic code.’ I argue that this notion has gathered fresh momentum now that its potential has been enhanced through new forms of computer-based media. What the material modernists of the modernist movement sought to achieve with the material elements of their works, contemporary scholars and critics can seek to replicate and explore with greater clarity and creativity. The bibliographic code has gained new importance, as the degree by which it can be manipulated, I argue, has been extended significantly.