Alexa, e-Readings of "In the Cage," and Anticipations of Surveillance Capitalism

Abstract

Abstract:What transmogrifies when "In the Cage" becomes Web "content"? What shifts in the story's class-alliances, as its capitalism intensifies? Printed texts anticipate the encroachments of capitalism on the literary marketplace, but e-texts measure readers' immersion in the surveillance capitalism. The author reaches out across economic classes to appeal for his amanuenses' empathy, but on the remediated "page," the story mechanizes and commodifies its personal assistants. As a remediation of automation at Cocker's supermarket, "In the Cage" invites e-readers to anticipate their places in cages and machines.