Charting the Waves of Augmentation:Textual Dualism & Augmented Reality inthe Russian Empire
Jeremy Antley jantley@gmail.com @jsantleyPresentation Paper for Theorizing the Web 2012Conference14 April 2012
I want to thank you all for coming to a presentation that has absolutely nothingdirectly to do with the web and dwells, mostly, in the nineteenth century. Don'tworry- we will still manage to put our toe in twentieth century waters but digitalbits won't be making an appearance here. I'll be talking today about Russianpeasants, rumors, a little bit of Gramsci, 1861, transliterating Jewish names, aswell as Trotsky and his dreams of Soviet smychka. The intersection of atomsand bits, the emergence of digital dualist conceptions and practices, along withthe omnipresent components of augmented reality can be traced to a time whenonly the presence of textual sources challenged augmented conceptions. Toalter a phrase from McLuhan's 'Gutenberg Galaxy', I won't be charting theconstellation but rather the wave of augmentation as it ebbed and flowed acrosssocial space.What do I mean by 'charting the waves of augmentation'? To understand how Iapproach this topic, let's visit the work of Simon Franklin, a scholar whospecializes in analyzing writing technologies across Russian history. In his mostrecent article for the journal Kritika, titled 'Mapping the Graphosphere' Franklinmakes the following observation:"There may be one or several cultures using a given technology, and in each ofthose cultures the interrelations among technologies may function similarly ordifferently."I like this quote because it illuminates the interaction of textual dualist normsespoused by Tsarist authorities and the augmented reality concepts so oftenembraced by groups considered to be in the weaker position of power. Thecentral conflict between textual dualist claims to authority and augmented realityclaims to authority rests on terms such as asynchronicity and high or low mobilitypotentials.I have found it useful to isolate inquires of expressed knowledge through alimited scope: to what degree does a knowledge construct allow the user ortransmitter to modify the contents? Items that resist modification- a printed bookor document, for example- I classify as 'low mobility' constructs, while items thateither allow or encourage modification- a folktale or rumor for example- I classifyas 'high mobility' constructs'.Of course, binary distinctions only go so far in their descriptive power so it wouldbe best to remember that knowledge constructs can assume hybrid form- suchas a 'fill-in-the-blank' document (insert picture of taxes). Often, when twoconstructs encounter each other in social space it becomes evident that theknowledge perspectives are asynchronous and unless this asynchronicity isresolved or transmuted it produces disruptive effects. For the period underexamination, this largely amounted to a conflict between low mobility textualsources produced by Russian authorities and high mobility oral sources utilizedthrough folklore, use of rumor or just plainly stating one's name.
If we accept, as Franklin does, that multiple cultures exist and interoperate, thenwe must begin to chart the waves of augmentation or the degree to which aparticular culture permeates the milieu of space under investigation. Becauseaugmented effects ebb and flow based on a participant's physical location andtechnological utilization, documenting permeation of a particular culture intosocial space is a continuously dynamic activity. Here a selection from the shortessay by Gramsci, titled 'War of Maneuver to the War of Position' provideshelpful guidance:
"…the war of maneuver subsists so long as i
t is a question of of winning positionswhich are not decisive, so that all the resources of the State's hegemony cannot
be mobilized. But when… these positions have lost their value and only the
decisive positions are at stake, then one passes over to siege warfare; this isconcentrated, difficult, and requires exceptional qualities of patience andinventiveness."Take, for example, the emancipation of the serfs in 1861. Fear of peasant'interpretation' of the historic declaration worried many in the tsar's domains.Whereas previous efforts to reform, but not abolish, serfdom made peasantinterpretations of freedom a moot but still dangerous question (then, a war ofmaneuver), the new emancipation edict dictating terms of land allotments andmortgage payments made peasant interpretations of 'freedom' (now a war ofposition) a much more important issue to authorities and nobles alike.This is because the edict would be delivered by a stable, low mobility textualartifact that, while paying lip service to the 'rule of law' ideals made moreprominent with the rise of liberalism, in fact only provided a thin veneer tomaintain inequalities rife within the absolutist Russian system. Peasants werelargely illiterate and relied upon easily modified high mobility oral interpretationsto challenge edicts they felt were either unfair, unjustified or would otherwiseupend established relationships. Essentially, peasants understood rhetoricalshifts of the 'social contract' introduced by textual modifications even though theythemselves did not, generally, use textual technologies in the workings of theirdaily life. Thus the increasing trend introduced by Peter the Great towardsasserting textual dualist norms, which created inherent asynchronicities withaugmented reality, was not only noted but challenged by peasant communitiesthrough patient and inventive means.Take for example the abolitionist governor of Kaluga province who sent out 167representatives known as the 'heralds of liberty' to travel to every peasantcommunity in order that the most 'relevant' sections of the emancipation statuteswould be read and interpreted correctly. It should also be noted that TsarAlexander II signed the emancipation edict on the anniversary of his accession,but held off releasing the text to the public until the advent of Lent- a period whenpeasants were supposed to abstain from drinking alcohol. Beyond these
Charting the Waves of Augmentation
My presentation exploring themes of Textual Dualism and Augmented Reality through the lens of Russian History. Discusses peasants use of rumor, Imperial documentation of Jews and Soviet ideals of 'smychka'.
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