Why Flusser matters
Flusser’s thinking inspires new thinking, his stories baffle and touch us in the here and now.
Flusser’s work revolves around the radical change of human communication structures, the crisis of writing, politics and science, the transformation of media culture and the ever-changing use of technology.
His way of telling histories of media, communication and humankind transcends the boundaries of science, art and philosophy.
Flusser’s perspectives remain relevant and inspire a worldwide network of researchers, artists and thinkers.
About Vilém Flusser
In 1939, Vilém Flusser fled from the National Socialists from his hometown Prague via London and emigrated to São Paulo, Brazil.
In 1972, he moved to Italy and shortly afterwards settled in Robion, in southern France.
From 1959, Flusser made his mark in São Paulo as a lecturer in philosophy of science, from 1964 as professor of communication theory and philosophy of communication, and not least through his essays in newspapers and magazines from 1960.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Flusser taught at French institutions, universities and art academies in Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Marseille and Paris.
In 1983, Flusser’s book Für eine Philosophie der Fotografie (Towards a Philosophy of Photography) marked the breakthrough of his publishing success, which continued to rise until his untimely death in 1991, making him a celebrated thinker of his time.
Flusser‘s Work
In Brazil, Flusser published his first three books, Lingua e realidade (1963), A historia do diabo (1965) and Da religiosidade (1967), as well as more than 250 articles, essays and glosses in newspapers and magazines from 1960 onwards.
In the first ten years after Flusser’s move back to Europe, the books La Force du Quotidien (1973) in France and Natural:mente (1979) in Brazil were published, along with another 100 essays in Portuguese, French, German and English and smaller writings such as Le monde codifié (1974).
With the tremendous success of Flusser’s book Für eine Philosophie der Fotografie (1983), which was already translated into nine languages during his lifetime and has since been translated into 23 languages, alongside over 300 essays seven books in 17 language versions and editions followed until 1991: Pós-História (1983), Ins Universum der technischen Bilder (1985), Die Schrift (1987), Vampyroteuthis infernalis (1987), Angenommen (1989) and Gesten (1991).
After Flusser’s death, another six of his book projects were published from 1992 until today in 92 language versions and editions: Bodenlos (1992), Vom Subjekt zum Projekt (1994), Brasilien oder die Suche nach dem neuen Menschen (1994), Umbruch der menschlichen Beziehungen as “Kommunikologie” (1996), A Dúvida (1999) and Até a teiceira e quarta geração as “Gerações” (2017).
In addition, more than 200 essays in 14 languages and not least 26 writings and anthologies in 40 translation versions have been published posthumously, such as Vom Stand der Dinge (1993), Von der Freiheit des Migranten (1994) and Medienkultur (1997).