Dromology

 🕮Hello Readers, Here is an outcome of the What is dromology term coined by Paulo Virilio.

Concept of Speed in Dromology

Dromos is an Ancient Greek noun for race or racetrack, which Virilio applied to the activity of racing. It is with this meaning in mind that he coined the term 'dromology', which he defined as the "science or logic of speed“. Dromology is important when considering the structuring of society in relation to warfare and modern media. He noted that the speed at which something happens may change its essential nature, and that which moves with speed quickly comes to dominate that which is slower. 'Whoever controls the territory possesses it. Possession of territory is not primarily about laws and contracts, but first and foremost a matter of movement and circulation.'

To say today that speed is obsolete is an untruth as obvious as that which consists in praising slowness. Speed, we are still captured by speed. At the beginning of human history, there was only slowness – the slowness of life in an agricultural society. Speed was created by people - merchants, soldiers, industrialists, scientists, engineers, computer scientists, bankers, etc. The present-day Identification with the speed may lead us to many different conclusions.

This applies particularly to those devices and equipment that we use every day - from cars and Velcro over Fast Food and email, to our computer and particle accelerators. Their formation is understood as a response to the clearly defined need, and their further development is a useful improvement. In today's life, it only speeds that count, and nothing else. The question of how much speed one needs and what rate of acceleration is tolerable for the economy, society, and environment, remains unanswered. Speed began to gain positive value in the late 19th century. Dromology by P. Virilio seeks to analyze the ways that were crucial for the development of speed. He asks how the principle of acceleration in Central and Western Europe arose and explains the origin and method of spreading “various triggers of speed”. Virilio’s theory shows the far-reaching extent to which speed conquered all and everything over the centuries: transportation and production, peace and war, men and women, urban and rural areas, work and leisure time, and arts and commerce. Virilio clearly shows us how the principle of acceleration of the word has taken root in the professional and private lives of individuals and societies in both good and bad sense, and how it has changed and continues changing our standards, values, perceptions, and mentality. The development of high technical speeds would thus result in the disappearance of consciousness as the direct perception of phenomena that inform us of our own existence. Cinema is not a seventh art but an art that combines all of the others: drawing, painting, architecture, music, also mechanical, and electrical works, etc.

Paul Virilio is a contemporary French theorist who has amply discussed the significance of speed and technology in the postmodern era. Through a close reading of Cosmopolis and Virilio’s theories, the present paper aims to contribute to current criticism of DeLillo’s postmodernist fiction. While much of the criticism of Cosmopolis has focused on its premonitory quality concerning 9/11 and its relationship to American popular culture, there is no comprehensive discussion of the postmodern city in light of Virilio’s ideas concerning speed and technology. The current paper offers a discussion. An attempt is made to read DeLillo’s representations of the postmodern city in terms of Virilio’s views on technology and dromology as well as the related concepts of telepresence and disappearance.

To understand Dromology more clearly watch this video:

Dromology by Virilio (There are 16 videos of dromology watch all of them to understand it thoroughly)

I found this term is based on speed as referred to in sir Dilip Barad's Blog.