First published in 2010, Cornelia Vismann’s article has already attained the status of a classic. In a formulation inspired by linguistic theory, the author argues that the relation between cultural techniques and media can be understood in analogy to grammatical operations. Thus, cultural techniques define the agency of media and execute the procedural rules which the latter set in place. Together, they articulate a critique of subjectivity and sovereignty that proceeds by re-examining the notion of ‘culture’ via its agricultural origins to the current moment when the ‘preservation of cultural techniques’ has entered legal and academic discourse. Ultimately, despite their apparent separation from praxis, cultural techniques continue to proliferate through axes of substitution and displacement.
Der Text skizziert eine kurze Theorie der Macht, die den Begriff aus der klassischen Engführung mit Herrschaft, Zwang und Gewalt entbindet und dessen Produktivität für Gesetzgebung und Rechtsprechung freilegt. Ausgehend von den Institutionen des Gaius, einem Lehrbuch aus dem 2. Jh., das im 6. Jh. als Vorlage für die Rechtskodifikation des Kaisers Justinian (corpus iuris civilis) diente, wird gezeigt, wie römische Institutionen die Rechtsförmigkeit unserer Rede von Personen, Dingen und Handlungen instituiert haben. </br></br>The paper outlines a brief theory of Power that frees the notion from its accustomed association with sovereignty, coercion and violence and uncovers its productivity for legislation and jurisdiction. Starting from Gaius' , a legal textbook from the 2 century that served as a model for Emperor Justinian's codification of law (, 6th century), the paper shows how Roman institutions established the legal structure of speech referring to persons, objects and actions.
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