Cornelia Vismann – författare

Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo. (What is not on file is not in the world.) Once files are reduced to the status of stylized icons on computer screens, the reign of paper files appears to be over. With the epoch of files coming to an end, we are free to examine its fundamental influence on Western institutions. From a media-theoretical point of view, subject, state, and law reveal themselves to be effects of specific record-keeping and filing practices. Files are not simply administrative tools; they mediate and process legal systems. The genealogy of the law described in Vismann's Files ranges from the work of the Roman magistrates to the concern over one's own file, as expressed in the context of the files kept by the East German State Security. The book concludes with a look at the computer architecture in which all the stacks, files, and registers that had already created order in medieval and early modern administrations make their reappearance.

Quod non est in actis, non est in mundo. (What is not on file is not in the world.) Once files are reduced to the status of stylized icons on computer screens, the reign of paper files appears to be over. With the epoch of files coming to an end, we are free to examine its fundamental influence on Western institutions. From a media-theoretical point of view, subject, state, and law reveal themselves to be effects of specific record-keeping and filing practices. Files are not simply administrative tools; they mediate and process legal systems. The genealogy of the law described in Vismann's Files ranges from the work of the Roman magistrates to the concern over one's own file, as expressed in the context of the files kept by the East German State Security. The book concludes with a look at the computer architecture in which all the stacks, files, and registers that had already created order in medieval and early modern administrations make their reappearance.

The essays collected in Law and Media present German media theorist Cornelia Vismann investigating how law functions through the media technologies used to produce, disseminate, and preserve it—from papyrus and the codex to courtroom stenography and Stasi files. Expanding on the understanding of the cultural techniques of law advanced in her landmark first book, Files, Vismann explores topics including the history of Roman law, the development of law books and archives, the transcription and translation of laws and legal proceedings, and the techniques and technologies of bureaucratic administrationTranslated here for the first time into English and featuring an introduction situating Vismann's thought in terms of her scholarly interlocutors, this book brings Vismann's creative theoretical work, in the form of lively and accessible essays, to readers in cultural studies, media studies, political philosophy, and legal history. For first-time readers of Vismann, these essays will provide a valuable introduction to her key concepts and ideas, while those familiar with the pioneering media theorist will find additional insight into the theories and scholarship that shaped her unique approach.

The essays collected in Law and Media present German media theorist Cornelia Vismann investigating how law functions through the media technologies used to produce, disseminate, and preserve it—from papyrus and the codex to courtroom stenography and Stasi files. Expanding on the understanding of the cultural techniques of law advanced in her landmark first book, Files, Vismann explores topics including the history of Roman law, the development of law books and archives, the transcription and translation of laws and legal proceedings, and the techniques and technologies of bureaucratic administrationTranslated here for the first time into English and featuring an introduction situating Vismann's thought in terms of her scholarly interlocutors, this book brings Vismann's creative theoretical work, in the form of lively and accessible essays, to readers in cultural studies, media studies, political philosophy, and legal history. For first-time readers of Vismann, these essays will provide a valuable introduction to her key concepts and ideas, while those familiar with the pioneering media theorist will find additional insight into the theories and scholarship that shaped her unique approach.

Wie kaum eine andere soziologische Theorie der vergangenen Jahrzehnte bietet die Systemtheorie Niklas Luhmanns kulturwissenschaftliche Anschlussmöglichkeiten. Wer sich allerdings mehr vornimmt, als Luhmannsche Ansätze bloß ‚anzuwenden’, muss die Architektur der Theorie mitsamt ihren Vorentscheidungen, Ausblendungen und inhärenten Zwängen überprüfen. Das führt unmittelbar zu der Schlüsselfrage nach dem Verhältnis zwischen ‚System’ und ‚Kultur’. Gibt es ein ‚System der Kultur’? Und gibt es umgekehrt eine ‚Kultur des Systems’, eine kulturelle Codierung systematischer Vorgänge, die für deren Funktionsweise unentbehrlich ist, ohne von der Systemtheorie bisher hinlänglich beschrieben worden zu sein? Die Beiträge dieses Bandes gehen den Widerständen und der Widerständigkeit einer Theorie nach, die mit dem Anspruch auftritt, ein fugenloses Gesamtwerk zu präsentieren. Sie arbeiten Stil und Metaphorik heraus, wie sie der Systemtheorie eigen sind; sie erinnern an die darin versenkten Denktraditionen und binden die soziologische Theorie an ihre Herkunft aus Biologie und Kybernetik zurück.

Recht wird gesprochen. Es gilt das Prinzip der Mündlichkeit. Die Rechtsprechung operiert indes auch mit Medien, die nicht der Stimme zugehören. Eine Fotografie zu Beweiszwecken oder eine Kamera zur Übertragung einer Gerichtsverhandlung zählen ebenfalls zu den Medien der Rechtsprechung. Weit davon entfernt, bloße Hilfsmittel der Wahrheitsfindung zu sein, greifen sie in das Verfahren ein. Und dort, wo unter der Macht technischer Medien die justitiellen Formen verwildern, wird das Gericht zum Tribunal.

Neben den großen Studien zu »Akten« und »Medien der Rechtsprechung« hat Cornelia Vismann ihre beiden Lebensthemen – Recht und Medien – auch in einer Vielzahl von Aufsätzen entfaltet. Eine Auswahl der wichtigsten, die bislang verstreut und teilweise entlegen publiziert waren, liegt hier nun vor. Sie reicht von anonym verfassten ersten politischen Texten über ihre Auseinandersetzung mit Benjamin, Derrida, Legendre und Luhmann bis hin zur Untersuchung über das Schlusswort bei Gericht, das Kommentieren, das Archiv oder die Zeugenschaft. Damit liegen die Hauptwerke dieser wichtigen Denkerin nun gesammelt im S. Fischer Verlag vor.