Ubique and Unique Book: The Presence and Potential of the Codex : Introduction to the Thematic Cluster (Part 1)

This is a sel -a chi ed e sion o an o iginal a icle. This e sion may di e om he o iginal in pagina ion and ypog aphic de ails. Au ho (s): Ti le: Yea : Ve sion: Copy igh : Righ s: Righ s u l: Please ci e he o iginal e sion: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 h ps://c ea i ecommons.o g/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Ubique and Unique Book: The P esence and Po en ial o he Codex : In oduc ion o he Thema ic Clus e (Pa 1) © The Au ho s, 2019. Published e sion Keskinen, Mikko; Piippo, Lau a; Kilpiö, Juha-Pekka Keskinen, M., Piippo, L., & Kilpiö, J.-P. (2019). Ubique and Unique Book: The P esence and Po en ial o he Codex : In oduc ion o he Thema ic Clus e (Pa 1). Image and Na a i e, 20(1), 1-4. h p://www.imageandna a i e.be/index.php/imagena a i e/a icle/ iew/2061/1611 2019 1 IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE Vol. 20, No.1 (2019) Ubique and Unique Book: The P esence and Po en ial o he Codex In oduc ion o he Thema ic Clus e (Pa 1) Mikko Keskinen, Lau a Piippo and Juha-Pekka Kilpiö Résumé Tous les a icles de ce double numé o spécial (Image [&] Na a i e (20.1 e 20.2) ai en du s a u ac uel de l’obje -li e, an dans la p oduc ion li é ai e que, plus géné alemen , dans la cul u e d’aujou d’hui. La p ésen e in oduc ion si ue ce e ques ion dans son con ex e cul u el e média ique, puis p ésen e les di e ses con ibu ions. Abs ac The a icles in his wo-issue hema ic clus e o Image [&] Na a i e (20.1 and 20.2) explo e he con empo a y s a us o he book (in li e a u e and, mo e gene ally, in cul u e). This in oduc ion add esses he cul u al con ex o he no ion o book oday and p esen s he a ious a icles o he issue. 2 IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE Vol. 20, No.1 (2019) The a icles in his wo-issue hema ic clus e o Image [&] Na a i e (20.1 and 20.2) explo e he con empo a y s a us o he book (in li e a u e and, mo e gene ally, in cul u e). Books and bookishness indeed seem o be e e ywhe e, and in a mul i ude o o ms, shapes, and pu poses. In spi e o he p edic ions o e en news abou i s dea h, he book is e y much ali e. O a leas i manages o imi a e he li ing by making egula zombie appea ances in e e y publica ion launch. Books and he logic o hei use a e p esen a and wide, in bo h p in and elec onic o ms, in bo h analog and digi al wo lds. Hence he ca ch ph ase “ubique book” in ou clus e i le. Digi al echnologies ha e also enabled o a leas acili a ed expe imen a ion wi h ypog aphy and he book o m. And many o hese expe imen s, al hough seemingly insepa able om he p in medium and unique-looking, ha e been u ned in o e-books (Ma c Sapo a, Composi ion No. 1; Tom Phillips, A Humumen ; Ma k Z. Danielewski, The Fi y Yea Swo d; J. J. Ab ams & Doug Do s , S.). Pe haps his could sugges ha he book o ma is ma chless and excep ionally unc ional. Hence he a ibu e “unique” in ou heading. Kei h Hous on’s 2016 popula s udy on he codex, The Book, bea s he sub i le A Co e - o-Co e Explo a ion o he Mos Powe ul Objec o Ou Time. Indeed, Hous on concen a es on he book as a ma e ial en i y, e ealing “ ha he pape , ink, h ead, glue, and boa d om which a book is made ell as ich a s o y as he wo ds on i s pages [---],” as he s udy’s blu b pu s i . Hous on’s wo k aims a gi ing he eade s, acco ding o he blu b, he “momen ous and su p ising his o y behind humani y’s mos impo an ‒ and uni e sal ‒ in o ma ion echnology.” Hous on does no men ion he wo d medium in his book, al hough he is clea ly w i ing exac ly abou i when he e e s o he bookness o books ‒ no in he sense o an idea bu as ma e ial objec s: “ he weigh y, complica ed, in i ing a i ac s” (Hous on 2016, x ii). He indulges in he bliss o ma e ial omes and u ges he eade o do he same: “pluck a physical book o you bookshel now. Find he bigges , g andes ha dback you can. Hold i in you hands. Open i and hea he us le o pape and he c ackle o glue. Smell i ! Flip h ough he pages and eel he b eeze on you ace. An e-book imp isoned behind he glass o able o compu e sc een is an ine hing by compa ison.” (Hous on 2016, x i) Books, o Hous on, a e en i ies “ ha ha e mass and odo , ha all in o you hands when you ease hem ou o a bookcase and ha make a hump when you pu hem down” (Hous on 2016, x i). Those seemingly unassuming objec s on he bookshel a e, hen, qui e mul imodal, a leas in Hous on’s eading, wi h ac ile, ol ac o y, and acous ic quali ies. We mus add, howe e , ha he bookness o books does no s ay pu be ween he co e s bu seems o ooze ou o neighbo ing media and cul u al a i ac s. In e u n, books and bookness a e ine i ably con amina ed wi h o he media du ing he p ocess. In addi ion o popula his o ies, impo an schola ly wo k has been done in book s udies is-à- is o he media, digi ali y, mul imodali y, expe imen al w i ing, and di e en concep ions o ma e iali y and p esence. We only need o e e o he seminal olumes by Tho bu n and Jenkins (2004), D ucke (2004), Hayles and P essman (2013), Gibbons (2012), Eme son (2014), and by B illenbu g Wu h, D iscoll, and P essman (2018). The eigh a icles in ou hema ic clus e app oach he ubique/unique p oblema ic o he book om a a ie y 3 IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE Vol. 20, No.1 (2019) o di ec ions, including semio ic, his o ical, ypog aphical, and media heo e ical pe spec i es. The p esen issue opens wi h wo con ibu ions ha explo e he undamen als o insc ip ion and i s media ion in he codex o ma . Sami Sjöbe g’s a icle ocuses on Luigi Se a ini’s Codex Se aphinianus, a isually a ac i e bu indeciphe able book. Sjöbe g claims ha Codex’s sc ip and images a e equally asemic, bu he la e ’s lack o ep esen a ion is de e mined by a s a egy in which ecognizable objec s a e made bo h un amilia and “unna u al.” This ies in wi h Roge Caillois’s compa a i e biology and he wo king o he depic ing mind. Veijo Pulkkinen’s con ibu ion examines he imi a ion o he bibliog aphic codes and pe i ex s o p in ed books in ju enilia manusc ip books by Finnish au ho s om he la e nine een h cen u y o he 1920s. Pulkkinen shows how ho oughly he concep o he book de e mined w i ing in he i s hal o he 20 h cen u y and how well awa e budding w i e s we e o he bibliog aphical code and pe i ex s o he p in ed book. Danu a Fjelles ad’s a icle concen a es on he pe asi e p ac ice o ( e)p oducing images o s ains, blo ches, and o he “impu i ies” in con empo a y mul imodal no els. Fjelles ad p oposes ha he p ac ice can be seen as a sly o ging o a ( aux) sense o uniqueness and singula i y, as well as in ensi ying he sense o ma e iali y, conju ing up ac ili y, pa icipa ing in cha ac e iza ion, and a chi ing ime. Despi e i s he meneu ic po en ial, he p ac ice also challenges he eade wi h he limi s o semiosis. Jan Bae ens’s essay ske ches he book o he u u e by accoun ing o he p ophesized digi al emedia ion and consequen e o ma ion o he codex bu also by e u ning o p e-digi al possibili ies sugges ed. Ad ienne Monnie ’s 1931 concep ion o he “li e pau e” (“poo book”) se es as Bae ens’s example o he opposi e o wha he emedia ed book o he pos - digi al e a is p edic ed o look like. The a icles in he wo-issue hema ic clus e a e based on a selec ion o he pape s p esen ed a he in e na ional symposium Ubique and Unique Book: The P esence and Po en iali ies o he Codex (Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Finland, Oc obe 26‒27, 2017). The symposium was o ganized and unded wi hin he Academy o Finland p ojec The Li e a y in Li e: Explo ing he Bounda ies be ween he Li e a u e and he E e yday (p ojec numbe 285144), as has been he edi o ial wo k o he wo jou nal issues. Bibliog aphy B illenbu g Wu h, Kiene. Ká i D iscoll, and Jessica P essman, eds. 2018. Book P esence in a Digi al Age. New Yo k: Bloomsbu y Academic. D ucke , Johanna. 2004. The Cen u y o A is s’ Books. New Yo k: G ana y Books. Gibbons, Alison. 2012. Mul imodali y, Cogni ion, and Expe imen al Li e a u e. London: Rou ledge. Eme son, Lo i. 2014. Reading W i ing In e aces: F om he Digi al o he Bookbound. Minneapolis: Uni e si y o Minneso a P ess. Hayles, N. Ka he ine and P essman, Jessica, eds. 2013. Compa a i e Tex ual Media: T ans o ming he Humani ies in he Pos p in E a. Minneapolis: Uni e si y o Minneso a P ess. 4 IMAGE [&] NARRATIVE Vol. 20, No.1 (2019) Hous on, Kei h. 2016. The Book: A Co e - o-Co e Explo a ion o he Mos Powe ul Objec o Ou Time. New Yo k: No on. Tho bu n, Da id and Jenkins, Hen y. 2004. Re hinking Media Change: The Aes he ics o T ansi ion. Camb idge, MA: The MIT P ess. Mikko Keskinen is P o esso o Compa a i e Li e a u e a he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Finland. He is he au ho o Response, Resis ance, Decons uc ion (1998) and Audio Book: Essays on Sound Technologies in Na a i e Fic ion (Lexing on Books, 2008). He has published a icles on na a i e heo y, con empo a y li e a u e, and expe imen al w i ing in C i ique, PsyA , Romanic Re iew, Imaginai es, Image [&] Na a i e, F on ie s o Na a i e S udies, and Pa ial Answe s. His book chap e s ha e appea ed o a e o hcoming in No els o he Con empo a y Ex eme (Con inuum, 2006), Te o ism, Media, and he E hics o Fic ion (Con inuum, 2010), Theo y o Mind and Li e a u e (Pu due UP, 2010), and Recon igu ing Human, Nonhuman and Pos human in Li e a u e and Cul u e (Rou ledge, 2019). Email: [email p o ec ed] Lau a Piippo is cu en ly inalizing he doc o al hesis (Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Finland) on he expe imen alism, poe ics, and a ec s o he p ominen Finnish no el Neu omaani (2012) by Jaakko Yli- Juonikas. He disse a ion seeks o o mula e a cohe en eading s a egy o excessi e, ma e ially complex and ha d- o-g asp con empo a y li e a y wo ks. He in e na ional a icles on a o emen ioned opics ha e been o will be published in Reading Today (UCL, 2018) and Humani ies, P o oca eu (Bloomsbu y Academic). Email: [email p o ec ed] Juha-Pekka Kilpiö is inishing his PhD hesis in Li e a u e a he Uni e si y o Jy äskylä, Finland. The hesis ocuses on kinekph asis, o he e bal ep esen a ion o cinema, in US pos mode nis ic ion and poe y. Kilpiö’s a icle on Danielewski’s House o Lea es was published in Reading Today (UCL, 2018). He has also s udied, and published in, o he media- ela ed issues in li e a u e, such as he use o ypew i e in conc e e poe y. Kilpiö doubles as he edi o in chie o he leading Finnish poe y pe iodical Tuli & Sa u. Email: [email p o ec ed]yu. i