Flusser Studies 39 – May 2025
Hercule Florence: un photographe avant l’appareil
Hercule Florence (1804-1879) was a citizen of the Principality of Monaco and like Niépce and Talbot one of the inventors of photography around 1830. But, since he was living in a small city in the interior of Brazil, his invention of an original technique for developing and fixing images remained unnoticed and has been totally neglected by the European historians of photography. Moreover, he was the inventor of the word “photography” in 1833, six years before the word was used in Europe. There are some similarities between his life and Flusser’s: he arrived in Brazil at the age of 20 and was not recognized by the European centers of culture. The story of Hercule Florence is thus an occasion to reflect on the importance of naming and to demonstrate the power of the apparatus (political and economic) in the development of photography from the very beginning. Florence is probably the only photographer before the apparatus.
A Forgotten Publication Project: Vilém Flusser’s “The Fairy Tale of Truth”
In the 1990s, the Bollmann Verlag planned to publish a complete edition of Vilém Flusser’s oeuvre. However, in the mid-nineties, due to financial difficulties, this plan had to be abandoned. In 1996, was published the last volume under the catchy title Kommunikologie. However, the material for another complete volume had already been assembled by Edith Flusser, Klaus Sander and Vera Schwamborn. The working title was Das Märchen von der Wahrheit. Glossen und Philosophiefiktionen (The Fairy Tale of Truth: Glosses and Philosophical Fictions). The first section contained a collection of twenty-seven philosophical fictions and the second nearly all the texts of the daily satirical column Posto Zero that were published from January 22 to April 12, 1972, shortly before Flusser’s return to Europe. For the publication project, Edith Flusser had translated practically all the Portuguese texts into German. The essay also discusses five of these previously unpublished texts in more detail.
Das Märchen von der Wahrheit: Glossen und Philosophiefiktionen / Posto Zero
They are all Auschwitz: The Impact of the Brazilian Military Dictatorship on Flusser’s Communication Theory
This essay argues that Vilém Flusser’s experience with Brazil’s military dictatorship (1964–1985) not only shaped his personal narrative but was also crucial for his theoretical thinking, especially his later theoretical production, particularly his contribution to Communication Theory. By exploring an unpublished corpus of correspondence from the Vilém Flusser Archive in São Paulo, along with complementary essays and published texts, this essay seeks to bridge the gap between Flusser’s personal experiences under political repression and his theoretical assertions. Methodologically, the article adopts an exploratory qualitative approach. It categorizes extensive letter exchanges with figures like José Bueno, Miguel Reale, and others associated with the Brazilian Institute of Philosophy (IBF), the epicentre from which the ideological and legal defence of the 1964 coup emanated . This triangulation between private correspondence, unpublished essays, and Flusser’s published work provides a framework for analysing his nuanced engagement with repression and the notion of the apparatus. The results indicate that although Flusser’s published writings on the Brazilian context are relatively ambiguous, his correspondence unveils a thinker deeply affected by the repressive climate. His cautious yet critical stance against the military apparatus is based on his original notion of politics as a communicational phenomenon – emphasizing the continuous rearticulation of social relationships and advocating transformative dialogue.
The Relationship between Vilém Flusser and Günther Anders in Politics and Media Studies: A Personal Review
This essay aims to highlight the divergent views of Günther Anders and Vilém Flusser on the relationship between media, technology and politics. Anders, with his deep scepticism, views technological advancements as a source of dehumanization, arguing that modern media facilitates a dangerous disconnection between actions and their moral consequences. In contrast, Flusser presents a more hopeful scenario where media technologies offer potential spaces for creativity, resilience, and transformation. This essay attempts to intertwine these perspectives in order to examine how digital media shapes not only communication, but also political agency and social realities. Through a critical discussion, the paper explores the ongoing tension between media-driven control and the potential for media as a tool of empowerment, urging a balanced understanding that recognizes both the perils and promises of technological engagement in shaping public discourse and political action.
Philosophical Knowledge Transfers in György Galántai’s Art Archival Practice and Its Relationship with the Work of Vilém Flusser, Arthur Koestler and Michael Polanyi
This essay explores the intellectual context of the “Active Archive” of Artpool, founded in Budapest in 1979, by György Galántai and Júlia Klaniczay. Galántai’s thinking and creative approach are embodied in the system itself, which calls for an archival practice based on transfers of philosophical and personal knowledge. The archive puts the philosophical, insights of some influential thinkers into practice, among them Arthur Koestler, Vilém Flusser and Michael Polanyi. In archival research, one can gain a better self-awareness through the exploration of the social and cultural relations of the past. The contents available in the Artpool Archive, predetermine a particular way of seeing things by structuring them and at the same time they constantly offer freedom of choice, both necessary in our present day telematic society, deeply permeated by digital and artificial intelligence.
Medienphilosophie als „Kommunikologie” – Vilém Flussers (1920-1991) Phänomenologie des Medialen
Despite his ambivalence towards the concept of “media”, Vilém Flusser is considered one of the foundational figures of media philosophy. His complex and associative thinking is highly sceptical with regard to traditional science-orientated media concepts. Flusser’s unique approach to media theory is fundamentally a phenomenology of the media. To capture these tensions the essay pursues a work-inherent interpretation. The essay delves into Flusser’s “Communicology” focusing on his ideas about texts, codes, symbols, and the interplay between media and human thought. One main thesis of the paper is that Flusser emphasizes in his work the need for a nuanced understanding of media philosophy, considering diverse methodological approaches and the evolving nature of media in contemporary society.