"Ohne Musik ist alles Leben ein Irrtum": Alexander Kluge, Techno, and the Proletarian Counterpublic Sphere. Issue 3 (3rd July 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fulk, Kirkland A.
• Is Part Of: Germanic review. Volume 92:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 245
• Page End: 263
• Publication Date: 2017-07-03
• Subjects: Afro-futurism -- counterpublic sphere -- Alexander Kluge -- Kraftwerk -- Oskar Negt -- techno -- transnationalism; Germanic philology -- Periodicals; Philologie germanique -- Périodiques; Germaanse talen; Letterkunde; 430.05
• DOI: 10.1080/00168890.2017.1329703
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-8890

Abstract

Abstract : This article explores Oskar Negt and Alexander Kluge's concept of the proletarian counterpublic sphere from Öffentlichkeit und Erfahrung (1972) in conjunction with Kluge's later explorations of American techno and interviews with techno DJs from the mid-1990s. It brings their work into dialogue with popular music studies, most notably the tradition of Afro-futurism and its emphasis on science-fictional temporalities and fantasies, and highlights the transnational networks and cultural exchanges at work both in the earlier influence and appropriation of Kraftwerk by African-American techno DJs. In this way, the proletarian counterpublic sphere of techno is rooted in particular post-industrial conditions and experiences that at the same time signal its universal and collective potential. Lastly, it attempts to connect the technologies and practices of techno to Kluge's televisual and digital projects. I argue that Kluge's investigations of techno music not only elucidate Negt and Kluge's earlier theories of a counterpublic sphere but, moreover, renew and place their thought into a transnational context as exemplified by the musical technologies, forms of production, and cultural exchanges endemic to techno.