Trickster, Owlglass Pranks, and Dysfunctional Things. Non-Knowledge and Critique in Digital Cultures

Abstract

Non-knowledge and incomprehensibility are, for now, the norm in digital cultures. These states, produced part technologically, part discursively, need particular attention because they form a “politics of non-knowledge.” Against this back-drop, critique is necessary but is at the same time difficult to execute because the possibility of gaining knowledge is fundamentally put into question. A performing “practice of critique,” which tests the contemporary theorization on digital cultures by reflecting it with exaggerated affirmation and identification, is recommended as a method of critique in digital cultures. Its aim is to enable a self-awareness of digital cultures con-cerning the politics of non-knowledge.