75447 2712-9934 5 3 16 2024 1-179

EDI RUS 1-9 Polytechnic Museum Kotomina Аnna

Novaia Ploshad, 3/4, 101000, Moscow, Russia

37026794300 0000-0002-6019-3284 University of California, Davis Milburn Colin

Davis, United States

Speculative Technologies: Here and Now, There and Then Speculative technologies emerge at the intersection of imagination and scientific knowledge. They stretch the limits of what is currently possible, offering glimpses of the shape of things to come. Existing in the domains of theory, design, and fantasy, they may sometimes seem impractical, unrealistic, or even impos­sible from the perspective of the present. Nevertheless, they serve as provocations and inspirations, pointing to new possibilities, alternate horizons, and different worlds beyond our current reality. Speculative tech­nologies are not just products of speculation; they are also generators, drivers, and focalizers of speculation, instruments of subjunctivity. The essays collected in this two-part special issue examine speculative technologies through historical reconstructions, philosophical reflections, cultural-technology assessments, museological engagements, and literary experiments. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.01 13:159.954 Speculative technologies Imagined futures Alternative worlds https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.1/ 1-9.pdf

RAR RUS 10-25 0000-0001-5286-4634 Saint-Petersburg Stieglitz Academy of Art and Design Ershova

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Social and Utopian Ideas in Russian Paper Architecture of the Post-Revolution Decade During the post-revolutionary years in Russia so called “paper architecture” not only revealed different stylistic and formal inventions, but also conveyed philosophical and social ideas for creating a new world for a new human. Architects understood their task to create principally new forms, related to the future, but at the same time, to fulfill urgent problems of current social life. First discussions and competitions started at the very end of the civil war. Projects like the huge Palaces of Labor, dwellings for workers, and city planning demonstrated the fantasy and inventiveness of the architects Nikolai Ladovsky, Ilya Golosov, the Vesnins brothers, Konstantin Melnikov, or Moisei Ginsburg. The architectural fantasies by Jakob Chernikhov created an unpopulated world of inventive constructions, inspired by the dream of technological future. Avant-garde in art strongly influenced architectural experimentation with form, while the political ideology of “the cultural revolution” stressed its social functions. In the theory of “constructivism” architecture was considered to be an important instrument of “life-building.” Features of utopian thinking, found in nearly every trend of art of that period, manifested themselves differently and on several levels: philosophical, ideological, social, artistic. Paper architecture within this special period served to convey the ideas of a new way of life and social order. The rich and exquisite architectural language of the time expressed itself in the nearest future, when the construction sites appeared, and throughout the century provided architects a source of inspiration and method of teaching. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.02 72.01 “Paper architecture” Social utopian Ideas Graphics of avant-garde Constructivism Language of architecture https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.2/ 10-25.pdf

RAR RUS 26-40 0000-0003-4854-0199 Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran Mirzaei Sadegh The House of Futures: Cabinet of Speculative Curiosities This article examines the paradox of imagining and encountering the future—a concept that, while not directly graspable, is persistently invoked across disciplines. From technological forecasts to speculative fiction, future scenarios proliferate, but the challenge is determining which of these imagined futures deserve our attention. Given our finite cognitive and ethical resources, it becomes crucial to sift through the noise and focus on futures of meaningful relevance. The Futurium, a museum of speculative futures in Berlin, promises to provide a space for engaging with these questions. This article assesses the types of futures presented and their feasibility and desirability. Are these futures genuine possibilities, or merely nostalgic projections of a romanticized past? The article also explores how the exhibition shapes its visitors, ultimately asking whether the Futurium provides a stable platform for envisioning a better world or if it leaves us unmoored in a sea of disconnected and questionable possibilities. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.03 008 Speculative Objects Future Studies Technology Assessment https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.3/ 26-40.pdf

RAR RUS 41-48 Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg Sever Sercan

Halle, Germany

The Past in the Light of the Future – A Case Study in Speculative Architecture In 2019 a new museum opened in Berlin. The Futurium is a museum of the future or, more accurately, a museum that showcases mostly scientific and technological ways of preparing for, mastering, or shaping the future. One might expect that such a museum acknowledges with the benefit of hindsight the visions of the future that were developed in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. This is not included, however. Envisioning the future comes with the risk of these visions sooner or later becoming an object of the past. And so, the creators of the Futurium are already laying the foundation of a Preterium – and they know, of course, that this is what they are doing. In a fittingly speculative manner, the following text consists mostly of an envisioned speech at the future opening of the Preterium in 2100, reflecting on the complicated loops that connect future, present, and past. Intratextually, the speaker of the Preterium opening invites reflection on this temporal interconnectivity. Speaking intertextually, the text encourages consideration of the differences in the reception of scientific versus literal futures. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.04 008.2 Future tradition Manufactured and Non-manufactured Museum Technological futures https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.4/ 41-48.pdf

RAR RUS 49-67 Technische Universität Berlin Genc Merle

Berlin, Germany

Fuzzy Objects In Ways of Worldmaking Nelson Goodman presents a theory on how we perceive and construct different versions of the world. Building on the idea that practical experience can unlock the potential for sharing knowledge across disciplinary boundaries and intellectual abilities, the following approach aims to translate Goodman's thoughts into a practical investigation, where worldmaking can  be experienced in a tangible way. Drawing on Technology Assessment, Futures Studies, and Critical Design Methods, participants in this exploration engage with provocative objects that serve as starting points for the creation of world versions. Through this process, participants should gain an understanding that our assumed descriptions of reality are, in fact, constructions and therefore contingent. Supposedly immutable realities can thus be reimagined as alternatives that are open to change. Additionally, the outcomes of this exploration can be analyzed for implicit values and assumptions, making them visible and open to discussion. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.05 13:159.954 Worldmaking Critical Design Technology Assessment Objectual Practice Design Fiction Constructivism https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.5/ 49-67.pdf

RAR RUS 68-84 J-9548-2017 57210142445 0000-0002-7956-4647 Department of Social Science, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Bylieva Daria

St. Petersburg, Russia

Artificial Intelligence as an Old Technology Artificial intelligence is usually considered one of the newest technical ideas based on the progress of digital technologies. However, the dream of creating artificial intelligence is one of the oldest. In the mainstream of this imaginary biological, mechanical and mimetic approaches have emerged. The biotechnical approach (e.g. homunculus) implies the launch of certain natural processes that contribute to the creation of the most intellectually advanced creatures. Mechanical technologies (e.g. the automaton) contribute to the creation of limited intelligence, but are practically feasible to the greatest extent. Although by and large all artificial intelligence technologies have an imitative component, the mimetic approach implies that similarity is sufficient. Mimetic technologies of artificial intelligence (e.g. statue, golem) include a human in a kind of game with imitations which can take the form of the sculptures of Daedalus or modern game avatars and virtual assistants. The “creation technologies” and “applications” of artificial intelligence described in legends, stories, philosophical, and technical treatises allow us to see that its creation is, first of all, a challenge, a task of the greatest complexity, the resolution of which itself serves as a reward. Modern artificial intelligence, inheriting all three approaches to creation, continues to be discussed in line with classical myths and dichotomies, primarily as the embodiment of the imitation technology of creation. Humanity is equally dissatisfied with the fact that a machine can have equal or greater intellectual abilities than a person, and with the assumption that humanity is not capable of creating such a machine. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.06 1: 004.8 Artificial Intelligence AI Mimetic technology Imaginary Technology https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.6/ 68-84.pdf

RAR RUS 85-105 0000-0001-8449-544X Russian State Agrarian University – Moscow Timiryazev Agricultural Academy Vigna-Taglianti Jacopo

Moscow, Russia

AI-Generated Images as a Teaching Tool in Foreign Language Acquisition The objective of the present study is to examine the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and related technologies in the development of innovative teaching tools for foreign language acquisition. In particular, the possibility of generating images based on textual prompts is regarded as a valuable tool for the creation of textbooks and other teaching materials, as well as for improving the quality and effectiveness of the teaching process. This is due to the fact that visual elements are more easily perceived and understood by learners, which simultaneously increases their motivation. In light of his own experience in developing a new professional English textbook for students majoring in Landscape Architecture, the author presents examples of vocabulary-centered exercises in which AI-generated images were successfully integrated. Furthermore, this paper proposes several methods for integrating AI image generators into foreign language lessons. The findings of the research demonstrate that AI image generators are a time-saving, cost-effective and user-friendly technology that enables the creation of visual teaching tools designed to train specific topics, memorize and review specific vocabulary. It can facilitate the development and reinforcement of communicative and creative skills. Despite the central position of AI-based technologies in our everyday lives and scientific research, the potential of AI-generated images in the educational process, and in foreign language acquisition in particular, is a topic that has yet to be sufficiently explored and warrants further investigation. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.07 004.8:372.881.1 Artificial intelligence Visualization Language pedagogy Foreign language acquisition Professional English Vocabulary building Landscape architecture https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.7/ 85-105.pdf

RAR RUS 106-121 0000-0001-7520-2430 Universidad de Chile Ríos María José

Santiago, Chile

Textiles, Techniques, Technologies: Exploring Post-Ancestrality and Contemporary Practices This article presents an ongoing research project that explores the convergence of textile weaving and digital coding. Drawing from the Latin origin of the word “text” (textum, meaning “woven”), the investigation examines how ancestral weaving practices have served as a means of transmitting knowledge and storytelling across different cultures. The research delves into the material and linguistic parallels between weaving and writing, focusing on thread, knot, and unraveling elements. This study bridges analog and digital techniques through a speculative approach, transforming lines, fibers, and codes into a hybrid textile surface that merges the physical and virtual. The research has been channeled into several projects, where the fusion of tactile materials and digital coding is used to create innovative narrative forms. The article highlights how these interdisciplinary projects reimagine coding as a new form of language, expanding the boundaries of storytelling in contemporary art practice. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.08 81`22:677.024 Textile writing Analog-digital narratives Weaving and coding Materiality in storytelling Speculative design https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.8/ 106-121.pdf

RAR RUS 123-137 Zurich University of the Arts, Wickert Hartmut

Pfingstweidstrasse 96, 8005 Zurich, Switzerland

Judging Executing Writing: The Theater Although there are a number of attempts in contemporary theater practice to claim Kafka's texts for the stage, this attempt to deal with the subject of “Kafka and the theater” is more concerned with the anti-theatrical force in Kafka's deep and central orientation towards the scene, the staging and the theatricalization of our entire manageable life. In all his texts, Kafka opens up theatrical scenarios that reduce representation to the non-representable. Just as the characters in Kafka's “dramas” are withdrawing their appearance, the author removes the protagonists from his theater by making them incapable of acting and victims of circumstance, who in turn never stop questioning themselves. – “In der Strafkolonie [In the Penal Colony]” can serve as an example of this profoundly deconstructivist production of self-canceling artistic writing. Author (writer), main character (writer), and second main character (protecting and preserving the writing process) cancel each other out in the process of narration. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.09 792 Kafka Theater Walter Benjamin Typewriter https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.9/ 123-137.pdf

RAR RUS 138-144 57222081807 0000-0002-0670-9315 Samara National Research University Nesterov Alexander Intellectus ex Machina The essay interprets Franz Kafka's short story "In der Strafkolonie [In the Penal Colony]" (1914) not from the perspective of literary hermeneutics, but from the perspective of criticism: intents and allusions are attributed without any consideration or identification of the author's position, without reference to the tradition of researching his legacy. The machine depicted in the story and the events related to it are situated in the context of New Age island literature and are seen as a carnival inversion of the idea of technological progress. The interpretation is based on the hypothesis that Kafka's island containing a penal colony is in fact Bacon's Bensalem, inverted in the course of historical time (New Atlantis, 1623). What is considered and discussed is the very image of the island as a place of action, the parallelisms between the House of Solomon and the penal colony, between the perfect language that removes the idols of the market and the program code of the killing machine executed in the form of ethical maxims. Most importantly, the essay considers two versions of interpretating the destruction of the machine and the suicide of the officer who serves it. The first version is conditioned by a tradition of technophobia in public consciousness during the 19th and 20th centuries and is connected with the birth of existentialist philosophy of technology; the second version is connected with the loss of a vision for the role of science and technology in Western Europe in the early 20th century – with the Decline of the West expressing itself as a nascent information machine via the rejection of scientific and technological subjectivity and historical sovereignty in favor of the ideology of Nazism. The essay concludes with the thesis that it is necessary to look at today's events through the eyes of Kafka's "visionary": The information machine of Nazism is reviving and obviously requires an observer capable of breaking it down – if not destroying it, at least breaking it down again. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.10 1:62 Kafka Bacon Machine Progress Perfect Language Nazism https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.10/ 138-144.pdf

RAR RUS 145-155 57192080845 0000-0003-4543-0496 Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Serkova Vera

St. Petersburg, Russia

0009-0005-4026-1066 Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University Yakimenko Artem

St. Petersburg, Russia

Kafka and Technocratic Reality The aim of the article is to identify the main themes of Franz Kafka's story “In the Penal Colony” in the light of the emerging philosophy of technology contemporary to him. The basis of the analysis is a comparative perspective on the literary fiction and philosophical programs that are united by the same theme and problematics.  On the eve of the First World War, questions about the pragmatics and teleology of the rapid development of technology became relevant, also about the consequences of its incorporation into the very fabric of culture, and about the increase of its manipulative possibilities in the control of the natural order. The growing power of the machine, of the soulless apparatus, is realized as a great civilizational problem, which both “philosophical engineers” and their critics are trying to solve, which is realized both in the forms of philosophical discourse and in artistic works. The first experiments in the philosophy of engineering include the works of Ernst Kapp, Thorstein Veblen, Peter Engelmeyer, Friedrich Dessauer, Eberhard Zschimmer, Oswald Spengler, Georg Simmel, and later Boris Vysheslavtsev. The literary works of writers also appear which reflect the problematics related to the affirmation of technology and engineering in culture. Franz Kafka's short story “In the Penal Colony” reflects many themes that are part of the tradition of the philosophy of technology, not only among Kafka's contemporary philosophizing engineers on the eve of World War I, but throughout the 20th century. These include the technocratic tendencies of the “idle class,” the ideals of the technocratic order; the ethical problems associated with the introduction of machines into the body of culture; and the possibility of a harmonious interaction between the social and technical worlds. The article analyzes some of the issues contained in Kafka's story in the light of the emerging field of humanitarian knowledge – philosophy of technology. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.11 1:62 Technology Engineering profession Kafka Philosophizing Engineers and Philosophers of technology https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.11/ 145-155.pdf

RAR RUS 156-160 0000-0003-4471-0381 Moscow State University of Civil Engineering Bernyukevich Tatiana

Moscow, Russian Federation

“Be just”: Human, Machine, Punishment The works of Franz Kafka arouse constant interest and debate, which is due to their semantic complexity, the paradoxical nature of situations described, and the unusual nature of characters. The purpose of the essay is to determine the connection between machine and human in the system of punishment and “judicial proceedings” in Kafka’s story “In the Penal Colony” in the context of issues of philosophy of technology. The analysis of Kafka’s story allows us to focus on the complexity of the relationship between man and machine, which manifests itself, among other things, in entrusting the machine with the mission of “objective punishment,” performing a special act of justice. The essay compares the ideas of this story with the ideas of Ivan Turgenev’s “The Execution of Troppmann.” Turgenev’s story describes the public execution of the murderer of seven people, Jean Baptiste Troppmann, in Paris. The emotional background of the execution is the mood and behavior of the public, which, according to the writer, confirm the attractiveness of violence for the crowd. The method of Troppmann’s execution was guillotining; the history of its use is associated with the principle of “equality” of punishment, the desire to spare a convict from torment due to the fault of an unqualified executioner. The death machine in Franz Kafka’s story performs the task of “purifying” the criminal with punishment by “reading” the bloody inscription applied to the body by the machine, which gradually kills the criminal. According to the officer, the machine is perfect. Its destruction does not mean abandoning the principle of “guilt is always beyond a doubt” and similar deadly mechanisms. The mission of technology is determined by society, the interests of different states, social groups and political communities. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.12 124.5 Death Machine Punishment Mechanism Human and Machine Kafka https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.12/ 156-160.pdf

RAR RUS 161-170 0009-0007-0506-765X Peter the Great St.Petersburg Polytechnic University Krutko Daria

St.Petersburg, Russia

Kafka’s Thought Experiment: Reality Between Book and Spirit of Law The author examines Franz Kafka’s short story “In the Penal Colony” in the context of Austrian philosophy. Austrian philosophy stands for combination of different philosophical systems and independent thinkers, as well as writers associated with the culture of the now defunct multinational Austro-Hungarian empire. Austrian philosophy has a number of distinctive features, which can be described as an anti-Kantian orientation (due to the official Catholic faith in the empire), a baroque worldview (life in endless anticipation of the end of the world), a tendency towards empiricism and an appeal to linguistic issues. Linguistic problems were particularly acute, since the official language of the Austrian Empire was German, which was not the native language of many writers. Another problem associated with language can be identified from Kafka’s work: words, according to the writer, come from the world of “false” life, and it is impossible to convey reliable information about reality. However, a significant place in this historical type of philosophizing is occupied by a thought experiment, the development of which took place in parallel directions among philosophizing “physicists” and philosophizing writers. The general context of these studies was built on a special version of Platonic idealism, implying a difficult but possible path to achieving the truth – the “world of eidos.” We consider Kafka’s story as a thought experiment with the book and spirit of the law, which shows the contradictions between the text of the law and the content hidden behind it, i.e. the gap between the literal interpretation and its moral and ethical content. In Kafka’s story, the spirit of the law has changed, but the book has remained the same. This state of affairs is characteristic not only of the artistic world of the work in question, but also of what was happening in reality – in the world of the fading Austro-Hungarian Empire. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.13 167.2 Thought experiment Law system Social reality Franz Kafka Austrian philosophy https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.13/ 161-170.pdf

RAR RUS 171-178 17344631600 0000-0002-2173-4084 Institut für Philosophie, Darmstadt Technical University Nordmann Alfred nordmann@phil.tu-darmstadt.de Kafka’s Speculative Technologies Franz Kafka‘s In the Penal Colony is known to be one of his most disturbing stories, and yet it offers solace in the perfect working of a perfect machine. For the most part it consists in the description of the machine that executes the condemned by slowly carving the verdict into their flesh, bringing them to a point of delirious agony where they understand that justice is carried out as the machine carries out its program. Due process or a right to defend oneself are not provided for. In the eyes of a visitor to the penal colony, this disqualifies the machine. For the officer and operator of the complicated apparatus, justice is not a procedural notion but resides in the power of the word, that is, in the verdict being the true name for the crime. This power is revealed as the word and with it the law is laid down. It does not require reading to be understood since it is experienced in the flesh. This archaic conception of the machine as executor of laws and rules, and thus executor of convicts fits the idea of the machine: It determines an outcome in a perfectly transparent manner, it is intelligible – except when it breaks as in the botched attempt of the officer to let the machine take his own life. If one looks for a machine that lacks determination and that is profoundly subversive of meaning and function, Kafka describes such a machine as well. 10.48417/technolang.2024.03.14 1:62 Franz Kafka Speculative technology Killing machines Technology and language https://soctech.spbstu.ru/article/2024.16.14/ 171-178.pdf