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Summary Media and Culture in Transformation - Lectures & Readings
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Lecture 1 Print-SpeechA. Social and technological determinism. (2 ways of thinking that should be avoided!)
Writing is a media technology.
1. Technological determinism: An assumption that a society’s technology determines the development of its
social structure & cultural value
Example: Plato assumes writing destroys memory = technology determines behaviour and cognitive faculties
2. Social determinism: social interactions, cultural traditions are the single and determining cause of individual
and collective uses of technology
Example: The Chinese Typewriter book: false assumption that the language Chinese (a cultural tradition) prevents
people from using a certain technology
* Main point: Instead of deterministic explanation (where 1 cause explains everything), we look for the
various causes, conditions and factors.
Example: Media is one of the causes/ conditions/ factors for historical transformation
B. Historical Periods: Early Modern and Modernity
1. Early Modern period 1500 to 1800
Set beginning at 1495
(Fall of Constantinople, the Renaissance)
Important developments: mercantilism, Reformation, colonialism, experimental science
2. Modernity 1800-1970s
Set beginning at 1795
(the Enlightenment, French/ Industrial Revolution)
Important developments: capitalism, secularization, urbanisation, and industrialisation, modern nation-states.
C. Acoustic communities (David Garrioch):
Are characterized by:
Orientation towards hearing
Face-to-face communication
Impermanence
Urban sounds as a system of collective communication (ex: for the use of power – bell rings for two days to
notify the king’s death; or resistance – making noise to protest)
, - Creates complex semiotic systems (system of meaning)
Example: Bells/ drums signal emergencies/ beginning of religious rituals/ rhythms like curfews
Sound was a vital medium for communication and power
- Speech (voices) is the most important medium of communication in the 1600s -1800s
Decline of acoustic communities (1500s – 1800s)
-Become less important for the organization of society and culture (sounds of the city became noises, too much
sound to be meaningful)
- Especially during 1700 – 1800: contexts and uses of sound change
- New sources of information (clocks, newspapers, watches, and pamphlets)
Slow transition from acoustic to visual culture
D. Print Technology: the machine, printing press
Before invention of print
Difference between writing and print:
- Writing existed long before print (impact of writing in Europe 1000 B.C)
- Writing was an important medium of communication.
BUT the access of writing was very restricted:
- Latin = international language of Churches, administration, elite
- Catholic church controlled writing and knowledge
Invention of Print
ca. 1440: Johannes Gutenberg invented printing press
- use a new hand mould to quickly create metal type
- movable, durable, reusable
- allow for quick creation of a full print matrix
- produce large quantities of print
- reduced cost of printed material (books)
E. History of Print culture – the way print relate to our lives
Reformation
- 1517: Martin Luther publishes the 95 Theses against the abusive practices of the Clergy
- Print allowed fast reproduction and spread of Luther’s theses
- Led to “pamphlet war” between authorities.
Reformation - Break-up Christian Churches into Protestantism and Catholicism
Bibles in vernacular languages
- 1534 - Luther Bible (First German translation of the Bible)
- 1539 - The Great Bible (First authorized English Translation)
New engagement with Bible and religion: people could verify the text themselves rather than relying on
priests or pastors’ words.
Scientific Revolution:
- Scientific advancements are usually incremental (= happen in many small steps)
- Knowledge on topics was written down before print but forgotten or lost during warfare, accidents, etc.
Print helped reproduce, disseminate and store knowledge across vast areas.
This allowed for the establishment of an international network of scholars. (These texts are still all in Latin)
, Political Changes:
- 1215 Magna Carta = important political document that defines the rights of Englishmen and restrains the
power of the king. (Not printed -> forgotten)
- 17th-18th century: Printed versions of Magna Carta circulated in American colonies (Printed legal document
gave support to the opponents of the English crown, became important point for Declaration of Independence)
Print acts as a catalyst for movements of political liberation, accelerates the process, allowed people to know
their rights.
Modern Newspapers:
- 1800s- new printing technology allowed printed material to become cheaper and more available
- New print genres and aesthetics: travel guides, comic strips and illustrated newspapers
- Contributed to standardization of national languages.
F. Print capitalism and the rise of national consciousness
Print and the rise of nation-states
Benedict Anderson’s general hypothesis: Print capitalism contributes to the rise of national consciousness
= The exchange (for profit) of print-as-commodity is one factor among many for the development of the nation
defined as an imagined political community.
Nationalism in 1800s benefits from 3 developments separate from print capitalism:
- Latin became elitist and esoteric (understandable to very few people) -> Its use declined
- Reformation pushes the use of vernacular languages
- (Regional) vernacular languages function as instruments of administration
Q: Why does Anderson talk about these developments if they are extraneous to print capitalism?
To protect himself against the accusation of technological determinism.
Print capitalism contributes to the rise of nationalism in the following ways:
Creates ‘unified fields of exchange and communication below Latin and above the spoken vernaculars’.
People can understand each other across distances
Creates ‘languages-of-power’ that dethrone earlier administrative vernaculars.
Gives a ‘new fixity to language’ and slows down language change
(Language becomes more homogeneous and reliable)
Print capitalism contributes to the rise of nationalism because it contributes to the emergence of:
- Large reading publics with a shared language
- A shared culture (same political or economic concerns)
- A shared rhythm of consumption (newspaper)
Reading a newspaper becomes “a ceremony that the reader performs and is being replicated simultaneously by
thousands (millions) of others”
All these people start imagining themselves as part of the same communities (nations)
Q1: Early films closely related to literate (writing-dominated) culture rather than oral (speech-dominated) culture.
Q2: Comparing newspapers and telegrams, what are the functions and limitations of the newspaper? What kind of
communication does it allow?
- Telegram is much more personalized, while newspaper gives only general political, global information.
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