A recent conversation with progrium reminded me of an academic paper I wrote in 1994 about “the network” as a recurring metaphor in feminist philosophy. I dug it up off my old 286 archives and cleaned it up here for your amusement (sans a few citations).
The Network: modulation of a feminist metaphor
Among other archaisms, I use Gopher as my example of the internet’s rhizomatic structure. And I say stuff like this:
While I began my research expecting to outline the linear development of a cultural metaphor from its organic origins to its technological currency, I came to the realization that in a moment of prescience (which we should remember is pre-science) I had more aptly titled my paper towards its teleos: this is an observational fragment of an idea in fluctuation.
p.s. I still love you, Donna!