Improper Names: Collective Pseudonyms from the Luddites to Anonymous - Thursdays at Four Presentation by Marco Deseriis November 1, 2012

Marco Deseriis presents a brief genealogy and a theory of the improper name, the adoption of the same pseudonym by organized collectives, affinity groups and individual authors. On the one hand, improper names provide a medium for identification and mutual recognition to their users. On the other hand, they enable those who do not have a voice of their own to acquire a symbolic power outside the boundaries of an institutional practice. By setting in motion a process of subjectivation characterized by the proliferation of difference, improper names designate subjects that are neither collective nor individual but rather “co-dividual” or “trans-individual.” In thinking the subject as an unfinished project, the theory of the improper also calls for a new theory of media.

Marco Deseriis is a core faculty member of the Program in Media and Screen Studies at Northeastern University.

Organized by the Global Cultures group of Quadrant.

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