Araştırma Makalesi
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Technological a priori and Communicative Action in Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano

Yıl 2024, Sayı: 51, 65 - 84, 30.06.2024
https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1343482

Öz

This article examines the state of extreme mechanization in modern industrial societies, which leads to a strict separation of the various spheres of life and ultimately to the exclusion of the human element. The philosophers of the Frankfurt School, Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas in particular, have rigorously analyzed the inherently ideological function of technology in late capitalist societies. In Player Piano, Kurt Vonnegut’s critical depiction of the extremely technologized and automated social world in a near future America slightly predates and even heralds the above-mentioned critical theorists’ analyses of the ideological nature of technology under corporate capitalism. This study scrutinizes how the technocratic state in Vonnegut’s novel utilizes technology to pacify and disempower the masses, challenging the notion that technology is merely a value-free accumulation of know-how. The devalued human subject and dehumanized society depicted in Vonnegut's anti-utopian narrative are discussed with reference to Marcuse’s notion of 'one-dimensional society' and Habermas’s theory of 'communicative action' to provide the critical framework for the analysis of the impoverishing and colonizing effects of technological rationality on the lifeworld.

Kaynakça

  • Burnett, W., & Rollin, L. (1997). Vonnegut’s “Player piano” and American anti-leisure: Idle time in hell. Studies in Popular Culture, 20(2), 17–27.
  • Canavan, G. (2015). Capital as artificial intelligence. Journal of American Studies, 49(4), 685–709. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002187581500167X
  • Feenberg, A. (1996). Marcuse or Habermas: Two critiques of technology. Inquiry, 39(1), 45–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00201749608602407
  • Feenberg, A. (2000). From essentialism to constructivism: Philosophy of technology at the crossroads. In E. Higgs, A. Light, & D. Strong (Eds.), Technology and the good life? (pp. 294–315). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Freese, P. (2002). Kurt Vonnegut’s “Player Piano”; or, “Would you ask EPICAC what people are for?” Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, 27(2), 123–159.
  • Fuchs, C. (2020). Communication and capitalism: A critical theory. London: University of Westminster Press. https://doi.org/10.16997/book45
  • Grosswiler, P. (2001). Jürgen Habermas: Media ecologist? in: Donna Flayhan (ed.), Proceedings of the media ecology association, Vol. 2, pp. 22-31.
  • Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Reason and the rationalization of society: Vol. I. transl. Thomas McCarthy, Boston: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1981)
  • Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action: Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason: Vol. II. transl. Thomas McCarthy, Boston: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1981)
  • Habermas, J. (1989). Technology and science as “ideology.” In S. Seidman (Ed.), Jürgen Habermas on society and politics: A reader. Boston: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1968)
  • Horkheimer, M. (2004). Eclipse of reason. London: Continuum. (Original work published 1947)
  • Kempf, V. (2023). The public sphere in the mode of systematically distorted communication. Philosophy and Social Criticism (forthcoming), 0(0), pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/01914537231203553
  • Marcuse, H. (2006). One-dimensional man: Studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. London: Routledge. (Original work published 1964)
  • Saggers, E. (2023). Carnivalesque inversion in the fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Schriber, M. S. (1971). You’ve come a long way, Babbitt! from Zenith to Ilium. Twentieth Century Literature, 17(2), pp. 101-106. https://doi.org/10.2307/606816
  • Soules, M. (2007). "Jürgen Habermas and the public sphere". Media Studies, Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.media-studies.ca/articles/habermas.htm.
  • Vonnegut, K. (2000). Player piano. New York: Rosetta Books. (Original work published 1952)
  • Wolff, R. (2019). Towards a critical theory of the technosystem. Jus Cogens, 1, 173-185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42439-019-00011-z.

Kurt Vonnegut’un Otomatik Piyano Adlı Romanında Teknolojik a priori ve İletişimsel Eylem

Yıl 2024, Sayı: 51, 65 - 84, 30.06.2024
https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1343482

Öz

Bu makale, modern endüstri toplumlarında yaşantı sahalarını birbirinden keskince ayırarak nihayetinde insan unsurunu tamamen oyun dışına iten aşırı mekanikleşme olgusunu soruşturmaktadır. Özellikle Herbert Marcuse ve Jürgen Habermas odakta olmak üzere Frankfurt Okulu filozofları, geç kapitalizmin egemen olduğu toplumlarda teknolojiye içkin ideolojik işlevleri titizce irdelemişlerdir. Otomatik Piyano adlı romanında Kurt Vonnegut’un yakın geleceğin Amerika’sına ait aşırı derecede teknolojikleşmiş ve otomatikleşmiş bir toplum imgesini eleştirel olarak yansıtması, yukarıda adı geçen eleştirel kuramcıların teknolojinin şirket kapitalizmi dönemindeki ideolojik doğasına ilişkin analizlerini tarihsel olarak az bir farkla önceler ve hatta bir bakımdan bu analizlerin gelişimini haber verir. Bu çalışma Vonnegut’un roman dünyasında baskın olan teknokratik devletin teknolojiden faydalanarak insan kitlelerini nasıl etkisiz ve işlevsiz kıldığını incelemekte, bu sayede teknolojinin yalnızca değerden bağımsız bir pratik beceriler toplamı olduğu görüşüne karşı bir itiraz ortaya koymaktadır. Vonnegut’un anti-ütopyacı anlatısında betimlendiği üzere değer yitimine uğramış insan öznesi ve insansızlaşmış toplumsal dizge, Marcuse’nin ‘tek boyutlu toplum’ nosyonuna ve Habermas’ın ‘iletişimsel eylem’ kuramına göndermeler eşliğinde ele alınacak, böylece teknolojik aklın yaşam-dünyası üzerindeki yoksullaştırma ve sömürgeleştirme etkisinin çözümlenebilmesi için gerekli eleştirel çerçeve sağlanacaktır.

Kaynakça

  • Burnett, W., & Rollin, L. (1997). Vonnegut’s “Player piano” and American anti-leisure: Idle time in hell. Studies in Popular Culture, 20(2), 17–27.
  • Canavan, G. (2015). Capital as artificial intelligence. Journal of American Studies, 49(4), 685–709. https://doi.org/10.1017/S002187581500167X
  • Feenberg, A. (1996). Marcuse or Habermas: Two critiques of technology. Inquiry, 39(1), 45–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/00201749608602407
  • Feenberg, A. (2000). From essentialism to constructivism: Philosophy of technology at the crossroads. In E. Higgs, A. Light, & D. Strong (Eds.), Technology and the good life? (pp. 294–315). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Freese, P. (2002). Kurt Vonnegut’s “Player Piano”; or, “Would you ask EPICAC what people are for?” Arbeiten Aus Anglistik Und Amerikanistik, 27(2), 123–159.
  • Fuchs, C. (2020). Communication and capitalism: A critical theory. London: University of Westminster Press. https://doi.org/10.16997/book45
  • Grosswiler, P. (2001). Jürgen Habermas: Media ecologist? in: Donna Flayhan (ed.), Proceedings of the media ecology association, Vol. 2, pp. 22-31.
  • Habermas, J. (1984). The theory of communicative action: Reason and the rationalization of society: Vol. I. transl. Thomas McCarthy, Boston: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1981)
  • Habermas, J. (1987). The theory of communicative action: Lifeworld and system: A critique of functionalist reason: Vol. II. transl. Thomas McCarthy, Boston: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1981)
  • Habermas, J. (1989). Technology and science as “ideology.” In S. Seidman (Ed.), Jürgen Habermas on society and politics: A reader. Boston: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1968)
  • Horkheimer, M. (2004). Eclipse of reason. London: Continuum. (Original work published 1947)
  • Kempf, V. (2023). The public sphere in the mode of systematically distorted communication. Philosophy and Social Criticism (forthcoming), 0(0), pp. 1-23. https://doi.org/10.1177/01914537231203553
  • Marcuse, H. (2006). One-dimensional man: Studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society. London: Routledge. (Original work published 1964)
  • Saggers, E. (2023). Carnivalesque inversion in the fiction of Kurt Vonnegut. New York: Peter Lang.
  • Schriber, M. S. (1971). You’ve come a long way, Babbitt! from Zenith to Ilium. Twentieth Century Literature, 17(2), pp. 101-106. https://doi.org/10.2307/606816
  • Soules, M. (2007). "Jürgen Habermas and the public sphere". Media Studies, Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.media-studies.ca/articles/habermas.htm.
  • Vonnegut, K. (2000). Player piano. New York: Rosetta Books. (Original work published 1952)
  • Wolff, R. (2019). Towards a critical theory of the technosystem. Jus Cogens, 1, 173-185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42439-019-00011-z.
Toplam 18 adet kaynakça vardır.

Ayrıntılar

Birincil Dil İngilizce
Konular Kuzey Amerika Dilleri, Edebiyatları ve Kültürleri
Bölüm Makaleler
Yazarlar

Mete Han Arıtürk 0000-0003-3773-9610

Mehmet Büyüktuncay 0000-0002-2327-3488

Erken Görünüm Tarihi 25 Haziran 2024
Yayımlanma Tarihi 30 Haziran 2024
Gönderilme Tarihi 15 Ağustos 2023
Yayımlandığı Sayı Yıl 2024 Sayı: 51

Kaynak Göster

APA Arıtürk, M. H., & Büyüktuncay, M. (2024). Technological a priori and Communicative Action in Kurt Vonnegut’s Player Piano. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi(51), 65-84. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.1343482

Selcuk University Journal of Faculty of Letters will start accepting articles for 2025 issues on Dergipark as of September 15, 2024.