[Commlist] New book: A Unified Theory of Cats on the Internet

*A Unified Theory of Cats on the Internet***

*E.J. White***

*https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781503604636/a-unified-theory-of-cats-on-the-internet/* 
<https://www.combinedacademic.co.uk/9781503604636/a-unified-theory-of-cats-on-the-internet/>

**

*Receive a 20% discount online:*

*CSLS2020*

“Engaging and entertaining, /A Unified Theory of Cats on the 
Internet/traces the emergence of the internet’s mascot from punk culture 
and japonisme, misogyny and trolling. Elyse White provides a definitive 
overview of one of online culture’s least understood phenomena, and a 
fascinating ride through internet history.”*—Ethan Zuckerman, MIT Center 
for Civic Media, author of **/Rewire: Digital Cosmopolitans in the Age 
of Connection/***

“Ever-present and infinitely adaptable, cats are among the internet’s 
most enduring memes. Elyse White gives the internet cat compendium its 
due, outlining the historical, social, and cultural significance of the 
felines that have long dominated our feeds. /A Unified Theory of Cats on 
the Internet/is an essential look at life online.”*—Ryan Milner, author 
of **/The World Made Meme/***

“I read the book/I must applaud/Some parts I ate/Some parts I 
clawed”*—Curious Zelda, author of **/The Adventures of a Curious Cat/**__*

How cats became the undisputed mascot of the internet.*__*

The advertising slogan of the social news site Reddit is “Come for the 
cats. Stay for the empathy.” Journalists and their readers seem to need 
no explanation for the line, “The internet is made of cats.” Everyone 
understands the joke, but few know how it started. /A Unified Theory of 
Cats on the Internet/is the first book to explore the history of how the 
cat became the internet’s best friend.

Internet cats can differ in dramatic ways, from the goth cats of Twitter 
to the glamourpusses of Instagram to the giddy, nonsensical silliness of 
Nyan Cat. But they all share common traits and values. Bringing together 
fun anecdotes, thoughtful analyses, and hidden histories of the 
communities that built the internet, Elyse White shows how japonisme, 
punk culture, cute culture, and the battle among different communities 
for the soul of the internet informed the sensibility of online felines. 
Internet cats offer a playful—and useful—way to understand how culture 
shapes and is shaped by technology.

Western culture has used cats for centuries as symbols of darkness, 
pathos, and alienation, and the communities that helped build the 
internet explicitly constructed themselves as outsiders, with snark and 
alienation at the core of their identity. Thus cats became the sine qua 
non of cultural literacy for the Extremely Online, not to mention an 
everyday medium of expression for the rest of us. Whatever direction the 
internet takes next, the “series of tubes” is likely to remain 
cat-shaped.*__*

**

*Elyse White*is Associate Professor of Digital Humanities at Stony Brook 
University, and the author of /The Republic of Games/(2018) and /You 
Talkin’ to Me? The Unruly History of New York English/(2020). A 
self-professed dog person, she’s now the human associate of Aaron Purr 
and multiple foster kittens.*__*


*Stanford University Press**| July 2020 | 168pp | 9781503604636 | PB | 
£10.99**

*Price subject to change.

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