Androids in the Enlightenment

Mechanics, Artisans, and Cultures of the Self

Nonfiction, Science & Nature, Technology, Engineering, History, European General
Cover of the book Androids in the Enlightenment by Adelheid Voskuhl, University of Chicago Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Adelheid Voskuhl ISBN: 9780226034331
Publisher: University of Chicago Press Publication: May 31, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press Language: English
Author: Adelheid Voskuhl
ISBN: 9780226034331
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication: May 31, 2013
Imprint: University of Chicago Press
Language: English

The eighteenth century saw the creation of a number of remarkable mechanical androids: at least ten prominent automata were built between 1735 and 1810 by clockmakers, court mechanics, and other artisans from France, Switzerland, Austria, and the German lands. Designed to perform sophisticated activities such as writing, drawing, or music making, these “Enlightenment automata” have attracted continuous critical attention from the time they were made to the present, often as harbingers of the modern industrial age, an era during which human bodies and souls supposedly became mechanized.

 

In Androids in the Enlightenment, Adelheid Voskuhl investigates two such automata—both depicting piano-playing women. These automata not only play music, but also move their heads, eyes, and torsos to mimic a sentimental body technique of the eighteenth century: musicians were expected to generate sentiments in themselves while playing, then communicate them to the audience through bodily motions. Voskuhl argues, contrary to much of the subsequent scholarly conversation, that these automata were unique masterpieces that illustrated the sentimental culture of a civil society rather than expressions of anxiety about the mechanization of humans by industrial technology. She demonstrates that only in a later age of industrial factory production did mechanical androids instill the fear that modern selves and societies had become indistinguishable from machines. 

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

The eighteenth century saw the creation of a number of remarkable mechanical androids: at least ten prominent automata were built between 1735 and 1810 by clockmakers, court mechanics, and other artisans from France, Switzerland, Austria, and the German lands. Designed to perform sophisticated activities such as writing, drawing, or music making, these “Enlightenment automata” have attracted continuous critical attention from the time they were made to the present, often as harbingers of the modern industrial age, an era during which human bodies and souls supposedly became mechanized.

 

In Androids in the Enlightenment, Adelheid Voskuhl investigates two such automata—both depicting piano-playing women. These automata not only play music, but also move their heads, eyes, and torsos to mimic a sentimental body technique of the eighteenth century: musicians were expected to generate sentiments in themselves while playing, then communicate them to the audience through bodily motions. Voskuhl argues, contrary to much of the subsequent scholarly conversation, that these automata were unique masterpieces that illustrated the sentimental culture of a civil society rather than expressions of anxiety about the mechanization of humans by industrial technology. She demonstrates that only in a later age of industrial factory production did mechanical androids instill the fear that modern selves and societies had become indistinguishable from machines. 

More books from University of Chicago Press

Cover of the book The Future of Conservation in America by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Victorian Scientific Naturalism by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book The Social Citizen by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Music, the Arts, and Ideas by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Documenting Intimate Matters by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Law in Everyday Japan by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book The Beast and the Sovereign, Volume II by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Marx at the Margins by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Boundaries of the State in US History by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Gentleman Troubadours and Andean Pop Stars by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Aspiring Adults Adrift by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Conquest and Community by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Bombs Away by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Forms of Attention by Adelheid Voskuhl
Cover of the book Walter Ralegh's "History of the World" and the Historical Culture of the Late Renaissance by Adelheid Voskuhl
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy