The Culture of the Copy: Striking Likenesses, Unreasonable Facsimiles (Zone Books)

The Culture of the Copy is a novel attempt to make sense of the Western fascination with replicas, duplicates, and twins. In a work that is breathtaking in its synthetic and critical achievements, Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions of our entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presence alternately sustains and overwhelms us. This updated edition takes notice of recent shifts in thought with regard to such issues as biological cloning, conjoined twins, copyright, digital reproduction, and multiple personality disorder. At once abbreviated and refined, it will be of interest to anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality. Through intriguing, and at times humorous, historical analysis and case studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates a stunning array of simulacra: counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, and portraits; ditto marks, genetic cloning, war games, and camouflage; instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, and photocopies; wax museums, apes, and art forgeries -- not to mention the very notion of the Real McCoy. Working through a range of theories on biological, mechanical, and electronic reproduction, Schwartz questions the modern esteem for authenticity and uniqueness. The Culture of the Copy shows how the ethical dilemmas central to so many fields of endeavor have become inseparable from our pursuit of copies -- of the natural world, of our own creations, indeed of our very selves. The book is an innovative blend of microsociology, cultural history, and philosophical reflection, of interest to anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality. Praise for the first edition "[T]he author...brings his considerable synthetic powers to bear on our uneasy preoccupation with doubles, likenesses, facsimiles, replicas and re-enactments. I doubt that these cultural phenomena have ever been more comprehensively or more creatively chronicled.... [A] book that gets you to see the world anew, again." -- The New York Times "A sprightly and disconcerting piece of cultural history" -- Terence Hawkes, London Review of Books "In The Culture of the Copy, [Schwartz] has written the perfect book: original and repetitive at once." -- Todd Gitlin, Los Angeles Times Book Review The Culture of the Copy' is a novel attempt to make sense of the Western fascination with replicas, duplicates, and twins. In a work that is breathtaking in its synthetic and critical achievements, Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions of our entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presence alternately sustains and overwhelms us. This updated edition takes notice of recent shifts in thought with regard to such issues as biological cloning, conjoined twins, copyright, digital reproduction, and multiple personality disorder. At once abbreviated and refined, it will be of interest to anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality.0Through intriguing, and at times humorous, historical analysis and case studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates a stunning array of simulacra: counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, and portraits; ditto marks, genetic cloning, war games, and camouflage; instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, and photocopies; wax museums, apes, and art forgeries—not to mention the very notion of the Real McCoy.0Working through a range of theories on biological, mechanical, and electronic reproduction, Schwartz questions the modern esteem for authenticity and uniqueness. 'The Culture of the Copy' shows how the ethical dilemmas central to so many fields of endeavor have become inseparable from our pursuit of copies—of the natural world, of our own creations, indeed of our very selves. The book is an innovative blend of microsociology, cultural history, and philosophical reflection, of interest to anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality

The Culture of the Copy is an unprecedented attempt tomake sense of the Western fascination with replicas, duplicates,and twins. In a work that is breathtaking in its synthetic andcritical achievements, Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions ofour entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presencealternately sustains and overwhelms us. Through intriguing, and at times humorous, historical analysis andcase studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates astunning array of simulacra-counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, andportraits; ditto marks, genetic cloning, war games, and camouflage;instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, and photocopies; waxmuseums, apes, and art forgeries, not to mention the very notion ofthe Real McCoy. Working through a range of theories on biological, mechanical, andelectronic reproduction, Schwartz questions the modern esteem forauthenticity and uniqueness. The Culture of the Copy showshow the ethical dilemmas central to so many fields of endeavor havebecome inseparable from our pursuit of copies-of the natural world,of our own creations, indeed of our very selves. This updated edition takes notice of recent shifts in thought withregard to such issues as biological cloning, conjoined twins,copyright, digital reproduction, and multiple personality disorder.At once abbreviated and refined, it will be of interest to anyoneconcerned with proglems of authenticity, identity, andoriginality.

The Culture of the Copy is an unprecedented attempt to make sense of the Western fascination with replicas, duplicates, and twins. In a work that is breathtaking in its synthetic and critical achievements, Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions of our entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presence alternately sustains and overwhelms us. Through intriguing, and at times humorous, historical analysis and case studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates a stunning array of simulacra—counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, and portraits; ditto marks, genetic cloning, war games, and camouflage; instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, and photocopies; wax museums, apes, and art forgeries, not to mention the very notion of the Real McCoy. Working through a range of theories on biological, mechanical, and electronic reproduction, Schwartz questions the modern esteem for authenticity and uniqueness. The Culture of the Copy shows how the ethical dilemmas central to so many fields of endeavor have become inseparable from our pursuit of copies—of the natural world, of our own creations, indeed of our very selves. This updated edition takes notice of recent shifts in thought with regard to such issues as biological cloning, conjoined twins, copyright, digital reproduction, and multiple personality disorder. At once abbreviated and refined, it will be of interest to anyone concerned with proglems of authenticity, identity, and originality. "The Culture of the Copy is an unprecedented attempt to make sense of the Western fascination with replicas, duplicates, and twins. Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions of our entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presence alternately sustains and overwhelms us. Through intriguing, and at time humorous, historical analysis and case studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates a stunning array of simulacra - counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, and portraits; ditto marks, genetic cloning, war games, and camouflage; instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, and photocopies; wax museums, apes, and art forgeries, not to mention the very notion of the Real McCoy. His examination of a wide range of modernist, feminist, and postmodern theories about replication and mechanical reproduction culminates with the following compelling question: How have the ethical dilemmas central to so many fields of endeavor become inseparable from the pursuit of copies - of the natural world, or our own creations, indeed of our very selves? This book is an innovative blend of micro-sociology, cultural history, and philosophical reflection of interest to anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality."--Jacket __The Culture of the Copy__ is a novel attempt to make sense of the Western fascination with replicas, duplicates, and twins. In a work that is breathtaking in its synthetic and critical achievements, Hillel Schwartz charts the repercussions of our entanglement with copies of all kinds, whose presence alternately sustains and overwhelms us. This updated edition takes notice of recent shifts in thought with regard to such issues as biological cloning, conjoined twins, copyright, digital reproduction, and multiple personality disorder. At once abbreviated and refined, it will be of interest to anyone concerned with problems of authenticity, identity, and originality. Through intriguing, and at times humorous, historical analysis and case studies in contemporary culture, Schwartz investigates a stunning array of simulacra: counterfeits, decoys, mannequins, and portraits; ditto marks, genetic cloning, war games, and camouflage; instant replays, digital imaging, parrots, and photocopies; wax museums, apes, and art forgeries -- not to mention the very notion of the Real McCoy. **Praise for the first edition** "A sprightly and disconcerting piece of cultural history" -- Terence Hawkes, __London Review of Books__ Refrain, Again -- Vanishing Twins -- Doppelgängers -- Self-portraits -- Second Nature -- Seeing Double -- Ditto -- Once More, With Feeling -- Discernment -- Encore -- The Parallel Universe. Hillel Schwartz. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 317-446) And Index.