Text as an Autopoietic System: Possibilities and Limitations of an Autopoietic Account of Digitized Text

TY - JOUR

T1 - Text as an Autopoietic System

T2 - Possibilities and Limitations of an Autopoietic Account of Digitized Text

AU - Nicolaisen, Maria Skou

N1 - The article was submitted in the wake of a talk given June 19th 2015 at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver for a "New Directions in the Humanities" conference

PY - 2016/9/2

Y1 - 2016/9/2

N2 - The aim of the present research article is to discuss the possibilities and limitations in addressing text as an autopoietic system. The theory of autopoiesis originated in the field of biology in order to explain the dynamic processes entailed in sustaining living organisms at cellular level. The theory has been introduced in a slightly altered version to the field of textual scholarship by Jerome McGann. In its original version, the defining traits of autopoietic system functioning are associated with distinguishable boundaries between the system and its environment, a distinction that does not seem easily upheld when applied to cultural or textual phenomena. However, addressing textual agency in such a way allows for fruitful discussions about what constitutes textual organization. This, in turn, allows for addressing the programmability of diverse textual structures in new digital formats. By comparing the biological with the textual account of autopoietic agency, the end conclusion is that a newly derived concept of sociopoiesis might be better suited for discussing the architecture of textual systems.

AB - The aim of the present research article is to discuss the possibilities and limitations in addressing text as an autopoietic system. The theory of autopoiesis originated in the field of biology in order to explain the dynamic processes entailed in sustaining living organisms at cellular level. The theory has been introduced in a slightly altered version to the field of textual scholarship by Jerome McGann. In its original version, the defining traits of autopoietic system functioning are associated with distinguishable boundaries between the system and its environment, a distinction that does not seem easily upheld when applied to cultural or textual phenomena. However, addressing textual agency in such a way allows for fruitful discussions about what constitutes textual organization. This, in turn, allows for addressing the programmability of diverse textual structures in new digital formats. By comparing the biological with the textual account of autopoietic agency, the end conclusion is that a newly derived concept of sociopoiesis might be better suited for discussing the architecture of textual systems.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - theoretical framework

KW - textual autopoiesis

KW - digitization

KW - Jerome McGann

M3 - Journal article

SN - 2327-7882

VL - 14

SP - 13

EP - 26

JO - The International Journal of Communication and Linguistic Studies

JF - The International Journal of Communication and Linguistic Studies

IS - 3

ER -