Gry Imperium. Globalny kapitalizm i gry wideo


Book Description

PRZEKŁAD – Krzysztof Abriszewski, Paweł Gąska, Adrian Zabielski REDAKCJA NAUKOWA ORAZ NAUKOWE OPRACOWANIE PRZEKŁADU – Krzysztof Abriszewski i Paweł Gąska Gry wideo są modelowymi mediami zarówno Imperium, jak i niektórych sił, które się mu sprzeciwiają – taka teza przyświeca Grom Imperium, książce czerpiącej garściami z dzieł Micheala Hardta, Antonia Negriego, Michela Foucualta, Gillesa Deleuza i Felixa Guattariego. Jest to pierwsze takie dzieło, w którym autorzy, za pomocą narzędzi współczesnej myśli krytycznej, przyglądają się grom wideo w kontekście krążenia kapitału, kompleksu wojskowo-przemysłowego czy wyzysku pracowników kognitywnych. Krytyka jest tu rzetelna, napisana przystępnym językiem, nie popada nigdy ani w bezpodstawną panikę moralną, ani w przesadny technooptymizm. W tekście utrzymano równowagę między teorią a empirycznymi przykładami (wśród których znajdują się choćby Full Spectrum Warrior, World of Warcraft, seria Grand Theft Auto czy konsola Sony Playstation). Gry Imperium to książka dla szerokiego grona odbiorców. Krytycy neoliberalnego kapitalizmu znajdą kolejne przykłady jego destrukcyjnego wpływu. Kulturoznawcy i groznawcy poznają nową perspektywę, z której można spoglądać na gry wideo. Wreszcie gracze będą mogli w przystępnej formie przeczytać o jasnych i ciemnych stronach ważnego dla nich medium. Prezentowana książka otwiera nową serię wydawniczą Kultura Współczesności, która ma podjąćtrudne zadanie zrozumienia współczesnej kultury w ciekawy sposób. Osoby pracujące nad przekładem łączą własne zaplecze teoretyczne z pracą empiryczną. Istotne jest także, by prace tego rodzaju zawierały element krytyczny, który pomoże wydobyć wielowymiarowość otaczającego nas świata. Obecność tych trzech warunków jest ważna o tyle, że żaden z nich z osobna nie oferuje satysfakcjonujących efektów podczas badania teraźniejszości, razem jednak dają szansę ukazania jej w sposób zaskakujący, nowy i inspirujący. Ufamy, że każda z publikowanych pozycji wniesie swój wkład w rozumienie kultury naszych czasów. Drugą planowaną pracą w serii jest przekład książki A Casual Revolution: Reinventing Video Games and Their Players Jespera Juula.




A Grammar of Contemporary Polish


Book Description




Mirrorshades


Book Description

Short stories labeled "Mirroshade," "Neuromanatic," "Cyberpunk," etc. by such authors as Greg Bear, Pat Cadigan, William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, Lewis Shiner, John Shirley and others.




Robot


Book Description

The first English-language publication of one of the greatest Polish science fiction novels of all time 'We have given you life ... so that you could discover a fraction of the great secret.' Is BER-66 a human or a robot? His controllers, known as 'the Mechanism,' tell him he is a living machine, programmed to gather information on the inhabitants of the strange underground world he finds himself in. But as he penetrates its tunnels and locked rooms, encountering mysterious doppelgangers and a petrified city, he comes closer to the truth of his existence. Considered one of the most important Polish science fiction novels of all time, Robot is a haunting philosophical enquiry into the nature of our reality and our place in the universe. 'An instant classic which catapulted Snerg to the rank of Poland's best sf authors' Science Fiction Encyclopedia




Microserfs


Book Description

From the era-defining author of Generation X comes a novel of overworked coders who escape the serfdom of Bill Gates to forge their own path. They are Microserfs—six code-crunching computer whizzes who spend upward of sixteen hours a day “coding” and eating “flat” foods (food which, like Kraft singles, can be passed underneath closed doors) as they fearfully scan company e-mail to learn whether the great Bill is going to “flame” one of them. But now there’s a chance to become innovators instead of cogs in the gargantuan Microsoft machine. The intrepid Microserfs are striking out on their own—living together in a shared digital flophouse as they desperately try to cultivate well-rounded lives and find love amid the dislocated, subhuman whir and buzz of their computer-driven world.




The Curatorial


Book Description

Stop curating! And think what curating is all about. This book starts from this simple premise: thinking the activity of curating. To do that, it distinguishes between 'curating' and 'the curatorial'. If 'curating' is a gamut of professional practices for setting up exhibitions, then 'the curatorial' explores what takes place on the stage set up, both intentionally and unintentionally, by the curator. It therefore refers not to the staging of an event, but to the event of knowledge itself. In order to start thinking about curating, this book takes a new approach to the topic. Instead of relying on conventional art historical narratives (for example, identifying the moments when artistic and curatorial practices merged or when the global curator-author was first identified), this book puts forward a multiplicity of perspectives that go from the anecdotal to the theoretical and from the personal to the philosophical. These perspectives allow for a fresh reflection on curating, one in which, suddenly, curating becomes an activity that implicates us all (artists, curators, and viewers), not just as passive recipients, but as active members. As such, the Curatorial is a book without compromise: it asks us to think again, fight against sweeping art historical generalizations, the sedimentation of ideas and the draw of the sound bite. Curating will not stop, but at least with this book it can begin to allow itself to be challenged by some of the most complex and ethics-driven thought of our times.




Breaking the Barrier


Book Description

In the last year the world has been electrified as one Soviet bloc government after another has collapsed. But ten years before the events of the past year came the first successful challenge to the Leninist state--the shipworker's strike in Gdansk, which led to the first free trade union in the communist world. Here is a fascinating history of the Solidarity movement.




The Founders of America


Book Description

How Indians discovered the land, pioneered in it, and created great classical civilzations; how they were plunged into a Dark Age by invasion and conquest; and how they are now reviving.




The Seven Good Years


Book Description

A brilliant, life-affirming, and hilarious memoir from a “genius” (The New York Times) and master storyteller. With illustrations by Jason Polan. The seven years between the birth of Etgar Keret’s son and the death of his father were good years, though still full of reasons to worry. Lev is born in the midst of a terrorist attack. Etgar’s father gets cancer. The threat of constant war looms over their home and permeates daily life. What emerges from this dark reality is a series of sublimely absurd ruminations on everything from Etgar’s three-year-old son’s impending military service to the terrorist mind-set behind Angry Birds. There’s Lev’s insistence that he is a cat, releasing him from any human responsibilities or rules. Etgar’s siblings, all very different people who have chosen radically divergent paths in life, come together after his father’s shivah to experience the grief and love that tie a family together forever. This wise, witty memoir—Etgar’s first nonfiction book published in America, and told in his inimitable style—is full of wonder and life and love, poignant insights, and irrepressible humor.




Views on Europe


Book Description

Text by Ulrich Bischoff, Wolfgang Cortjaens, et al.




Recent Books