Literally Occult: Hidden Imaginaries in Media and Theory

From the printing press to digital computation, mediating technologies have long been associated with ghosts, demons, magic. Emerging media are often touted as enabling unprecedented access to information, yet this also beckons a fascination with that which necessarily remains hidden. This course examines how hidden — or, “literally occult” — operations, techniques, frequencies, and figures pervade popular media and media scholarship. We will focus on themes of the occult read in and through critical theory, media archaeology, and software studies. What remains hidden in photographs, films, songs, maps, webpages, books? And how might the occult help us comprehend the (literally) occult?