Date of Award

6-1-2010

Document Type

Masters Thesis

Degree Name

M.A.

Organizational Unit

College of Arts Humanities and Social Sciences

First Advisor

Christopher Coleman

Second Advisor

Adrienne Russell

Third Advisor

Trace Reddell

Keywords

Dog, Hand held mobile device, Human exceptionalism, Posthumanism, Technology, Triple hybridity

Abstract

Since the suburban rush and steep rise in household technological devices in the mid-twentieth century, Americans have drawn apart from each other, a shift that has coincided with a rise in both dog ownership and the adoption of handheld mobile devices. This paper argues that these phenomena, which are both ubiquitous and intimate in many American households, reflect one of the most basic and static human needs: the need for emotional connection. Furthermore, it is the unique combination of canine and digital elements that replace human-to-human social networks; networks that were once both literally and figuratively tightly drawn. In the plainest terms, handheld devices endow people with powers of digital communication, thereby infolding them into a cybernetic social network. Meanwhile, it falls to dogs to provide a physical embodiment of a more immediate and tactile connection. In the most complicated terms, the human/digital/canine relationship in its many iterations is fraught with seemingly contradictory nuances, surprising connections, and theoretically diverse approaches. Drawing from a wide base of existing research and literature, both in the realm of human/technological and human/canine relationships, this paper seeks to draw new conclusions about how we interact with our devices and our dogs and what this might say about who we are.

Publication Statement

Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.

Rights Holder

Claire V. Bow

Provenance

Received from ProQuest

File Format

application/pdf

Language

en

File Size

98 p.

Discipline

Communication

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