"Arts, Faculty of"@en . "Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of"@en . "DSpace"@en . "UBCV"@en . "Teymouri, Hamed"@en . "2009-08-14T23:24:21Z"@en . "2002"@en . "Master of Arts - MA"@en . "University of British Columbia"@en . "This inquiry seeks to explore historical patterns connecting the development of\r\ninformation technology and its proliferation in the shape of goods and services in postwar\r\nAmerica. I take the two Terminator films as case studies in these cultural relations.\r\nThese films, as many others from the period between the late 1980's and early 1990's,\r\npresent technology as a threat to humanity. In the case of the Terminator narrative the\r\nthreat is total, in the sense that machines actually destroy the world to exterminate all\r\nhumans. The survivors of this imagined war \u00E2\u0080\u0094 those who were not killed by man-made\r\nweapons \u00E2\u0080\u0094 face the terror of machine-made weapons. The most fearsome of these are\r\nthe human-looking cyborgs, the Terminators.\r\nThe central argument of this inquiry is that this narrative premise and all of its\r\nattendant effects do not produce a viable critique of the rapid proliferation of technology\r\nin culture; still less do these films stand to question the cultural and economic\r\narrangements which underlie the production of technological commodities. Works by\r\nHorkheimer, Adorno, Marcuse and Baudrillard constitute the theoretical sources of this\r\nargument. In addition, I have borrowed the notion of \"fractured identities\" from Donna\r\nHaraway. I will attempt to show that this notion, very similar to the operation of the\r\nTerminator films, fails to substantiate an avenue of critique and liberation. Rather, the\r\nnotion of fractured identities, appears to serve the logic of consumerism."@en . "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/12254?expand=metadata"@en . "5714534 bytes"@en . "application/pdf"@en . "TECHNOLOGY / FRACTURED A N INQUIRY INTO THE CIRCULATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN CONSUMER CAPITALISM by H A M E D TEYMOURI B.A., University of British Columbia, 1995 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS i n THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES Art History, Vtsual Art and Theory We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA April 2002 \u00C2\u00A9 Hamed Teymouri, 2002 i In presenting this thesis in partial fulfilment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of British Columbia, I agree that the Library shall make it freely available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the head of my department or by his or her representatives. It is understood that copying or publication of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. Department of