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(Richard A. Cohen translating Emmanuel Levinas, Ethics and Infinity, 23).

1. proposed title a proximate bible - The indefinite article, the lower case letters, the phonetic resonance with a(p)proximate, and the ethical and spatial register of proximity all point toward the impact of material media translation on the cultural phenomenon of bible.

2. (hypo)thesis and scope of work The governing hypothesis for this space is that medium matters. More specifically, the material lives and afterlives of bible have as much to tell us about its cultural meaning as do the stories it tells. Instead of arguing toward the target of a thesis, I will explore three experiments (what Edward Soja calls approximations in Thirdspace, 9) in material bible using a polyphonic theoretical apparatus of anarchic poiesis and see what emerges.

3. methodologies It strikes me as more than coincidental that Michel De Certeau would include a chapter on scripture in his exploration of strategies and tactics in The Practice of Everyday Life. a proximate bible takes seriously the infinite and anarchic interplay of strategy and tactic in the production of meaning. Modeled on Walter Benjamin’s tactical literary montage method in his Arcades Project, I will use mobile new media technologies to collect and make use of fragments around the interactions of material bible and anarchic poiesis. Like the strategic city streets in De Certeau’s The Practice of Everyday Life, 117, I will build some roads through this arcade and will ask colleagues to participate in walking these paths and making new ones. The space-making conversations along the way will construct the value of this project as much as any “quality and original” insights I might offer.

4. bibliography a proximate bible involves a deep historical and philosophical look at the phenomenon of biblio-graphy. Taking medium seriously, my bibliographic approach will be collaborative and dynamic with multiple points of engagement. References to relevant resources, artifacts, and conversation partners will be linked inline throughout the posts in this space. A public zotero library will provide ongoing access to the evolving list of print and digital print resources that inform the conversations here. Tags on these resources will allow easy selective filtering. a proximate bible on RebelMouse will offer a space for collaborative curation of relevant and useful new media artifacts through hashtag aggregation. Collaborative curation is now available at *a proximate bible* on twitter, since RebelMouse has ended basic user support for hashtag aggregation.

5. rationale Bible remains inextricably bound to the materiality of book. As print reliquishes its media reign on books, what places will the cultural phenomena of bible make in the emerging spaces of mobile and new media technologies? How better to explore these questions than through an otherwise than print dissertation? As Marshall McLuhan’s work continues to remind us, it is imperative that we attend to the “social consequences” of our particular new media age and how these “extensions of ourselves” will transform the way we practice bible in the academy and beyond.

See Mark Federman’s wonderful exposition of McLuhan’s famous phrase “the medium is the message.”