P

Panopticon



Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon is a structure incorporating “a tower central to an annular building that is divided into cells, each cell extending the entire thickness of the building to allow inner and outer windows.[*] The occupants of the cells are backlit[+], isolated from one another by walls, and subject to scrutiny collectively and individually by an observer in the tower who remains unseen. Bentham envisioned not only venetian blinds on the tower observation ports but also mazelike connections[#] among tower rooms to avoid glints of light or noise that might betray his presence.”

The Panopticon, crucially, allows one to see without being seen.[~]

[J. Bolton. ‘Metonymic Imprisonments’, JOL 9 (2), p.309]

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[*] See >Phaeacia.

[+] See >Nuttall Codex.

[#] See >Ramananda, K. B.

[~] See >Enoptromancy.