Improper Names: Collective Pseudonyms from the Luddites to Anonymous (A Quadrant Book)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.19 (726 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0816694877 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 296 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-06-22 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
"Marco Deseriis’s learned and lively account of the improper name carefully considers the history, political reach, and symbolic power afforded by the alias by drawing on a rich set of examples, from Ned Ludd to Anonymous. The book’s optic opens wide to engage a wide range of subjects, from labor history to the politics of art, direct action, and digital media."—Gabriella Coleman, McGill University
Alan Smithee—an alias coined by Hollywood film directors in 1969 in order to disown films that were recut by producers—became a contested signature and was therefore no longer effective to signal prevarication to Hollywood insiders. Although such names are often invented to pursue a specific social or political agenda, they are soon appropriated for different and sometimes diverging purposes. The Italian media activists calling themselves Luther Blissett, aware of the Cantsin experience, implemented measures to prevent individuals from assuming the alias, which was used to author media pranks, sell apocryphal manuscripts to publishers, fabricate artists and artworks, and author best-selling novels. Ned Ludd was the legendary and eponymous leader of the English Luddites, textile workers who threatened the destruction of industrial machinery and then advanced a variety of economic and political demands. This book examines the tension arising from struggles for control of a pseudonym’s symbolic power.Deseriis provides five fascinating and widely varying case studies. The longest chapter here is devoted to the contemporary “hacktivist” group known as Anonymous, which protests censorship and restricted access to information and infor