Poetic Simulacra: The Aesthetics of Automation and Computerdichtung in the German Context

Abstract

Literary studies on the simulacrum generally adopt a thematic perspective aimed at examining the presence of simulacra in specific genres, authors or literary traditions. This contribution proposes a less common approach by investigating those cases in which literature itself acquires a simulacral nature, rather than being a means of representation of simulacra. After a brief historical recognition of the aesthetic of automation, the research focuses on stochastic and algorithmic poetry produced in Germany since the second half of XX century. The analysis of computer-generated poems offers the opportunity to reflect upon theoretical and aesthetical matters concerning e.g. the concept of authorship, the referentiality of literary texts, the role of creativity in art as well as the mechanical component involved in every act of artistic creation. In this context, the present contribution also shows how the discussion on this form of “artificial poetry” (Max Bense) can contribute to the debate about posthumanism from a purely aesthetical point of view.