19th-Century Replica/Replication across Science, Culture, Media, and History

In this study of the transdisciplinary 19th-century concept of replica/replication across disciplines (science, art, literature, journalism, history, manufacturing), we analyze this concept historically and as a prehistory of later replication technologies in the current contexts of the intersection of digital, physical and biological investigations of replicas and replications, such as synthetic life. We request funds to support a brown bag series, create multidisciplinary databases of replicas in the 19th century across disciplines and provide means for travel to UK archives and museums. Distinct from copying and adaptation, replica/replication challenged 19th-century values (author, authenticity, creativity, originality, genius, historiography, progress) and institutions (art market, literary serialization in the press, the scientific method), creating a legacy for 21st-century notions of networks and globalization and shaping modern socio-economic relationships between culture and technology, science and imagination, and cultural production and its public reception.