Description
Book SynopsisArgues that satellites are not a transparent form of distribution of information, but rather that they produce specific media practices and modes of production.
Trade Review“
Cultures in Orbit is a stunning achievement. Lisa Parks weaves a fascinating tale of the culture of the satellite, one that changes how we think about media and globalization. Parks’s compelling and original account demonstrates how profoundly the televisual imagination has shaped culture and knowledge production in the global age. Deftly combining cultural theory with extensive research across archives and disciplines, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the geopolitical processes of media and the politics of technological change.”—Anna McCarthy, author of
Ambient Television: Visual Culture and Public Space“
Cultures in Orbit is a welcome contribution to the study of converging media technologies that draws on too often distinct ideas in cultural studies, visual studies, technology studies, media studies, and studies in globalization. Lisa Parks offers a deft and nuanced analysis of satellite-television interdependency in diverse geopolitical sites, demonstrating with admirable lucidity how each constellation of imaging/viewing practices arises from a specific combination of technological, commercial, military, aesthetic, and cultural forces. This book illuminates the materiality of technology and its crucial role(s) in mediating the images and events we call Earth.”—Jody Berland, editor of
TOPIA: Canadian Journal of Cultural StudiesTable of ContentsAcknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. Satellite Spectacular: Our World and the Fantasy of Global Presence 21
2. Satellite Footprints: Imparja TV and Postcolonial Flaws in Australia 47
3. Satellite Witnessing: Views and Coverage of the War in Bosnia 77
4. Satellite Archaeology: Remote Sensing Cleopatra in Egypt 109
5. Satellite Panoramas: Astronomical Observation and Remote Control 139
Conclusion 167
Notes 185
Bibliography 213
Index 233
