Notes from lectures and seminars I took for Mediality to Intermediality Block 1. I wrote these notes to make the content more accessible through bullet points, images, and simplified concepts. I hope this helps you too!
Lessing’s Laocoon: An Essay Upon the Limits of Painting and Poetry:.....................................4
Greenberg’s Towards a New Laocoon:....................................................................................6
Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man:........................................................................7
The Work of Art in the Age of its Mechanical Reproduction (1935):.......................................10
Why are film and photography truly the new arts of the 20th century?..................................10
Umberto Eco’s The Open Work:.............................................................................................12
Roland Barthes’ From Work to Text:......................................................................................13
,Lecture 1 (Media Effects: Plato & Aristotle):
What is Medium?
Medium = something standing in-between (the middle ground):
o E.g. Writer text reader.
Something that is a carrier for information…
o E.g. Sound vinyl record loudspeaker.
o something that channels communication in artistic materials, communication
platforms, news media, etc. (medium as an art material)
In this course: media are things that stand in-between other things + channels communication
between us and the world.
o Anything can be a medium but not everything functions as a medium (WJT Mitchell)
Thesis: media are not ‘neutral’ channels; they shape their: (1) content, (2) us, their users.
We can analyze media in different ways in terms of:
o Technologies
o Means of (re)presentation
o Modes of (re)presentation
o Capacities & limits
o Effects & consequences
of the media on individuals and on cultures.
Plato vs. Aristotle on Media:
Questioning the (1) reliability and (2) consequences of media & representation.
o Key concept: mimesis = the representation & imitation of nature.
Both agree that mimesis is present in art, but they approach it differently.
o Plato (idealism): we need to infer from the imperfect and changeable things around us
(essence).
o Aristotle (realism): things change in the world, and their earthly presences is their
essence.
Plato on Media:
Polithea: concerns about media & mimesis.
Plato banished poetry from the ideal Republic for reasons that are:
o Theological: poetry represents gods in inappropriate ways. Gods must be role models,
not weak like humans.
o Moral & psychological: poetry makes us emotional and irrational. It leads us away from
reason and nourishes the emotional part of the soul = bad.
o Epistemological: mediated knowledge (mimesis) cannot provide genuine knowledge.
Plato goes from doxa (what seems to be) to episteme (genuine knowledge)
= Epistemological case against mimesis & media:
1. Idea of the bed = the concept/truth.
, 2. Actual bed = the worldly appearance.
3. Image of bed = imitation (mimesis).
Plato’s Phaedrus:
Phaedrus: concerns about writing and mediated speech (dialectics + rhetorics)
Dialectic (truth) as philosophical method:
o The dialogue
o Exploring truth, assessing beliefs
o Thesis/anti-thesis/synthesis
Rhetorics (speech) as an art of persuasion:
o The speech
o Probability > truth
o An art: requires skill & knowledge
Speech vs. written word: (Socrates’ allegory of Theuth and Thamos).
o Theuth: inventor of writing, writing will help make people wiser, and improve their
memory.
o Thamos’ warning: writing will make people forgetful and uncritical (Plato agrees).
For Plato, writing is undialectical one-sided, unadaptable, prone to misunderstanding leading
to irrational thoughts. It lacks dialogue.
o Phaedrus: writing resembles painting (mimesis) (86).
Writing as image.
Plato’s argument as early media theory, assessing:
o How the medium alters the message.
o What its affordances and limits are.
o What effects it has on users.
We are moving from oral culture to written culture.
Aristotle’s Poetics:
Poetics: Aristotle on mimetic representation.
o Mimesis as naturally human: (1) already observed in children, (2) fundamentally
pleasurable, and (3) didactic.
Study of various art forms differentiated by medium, object, and mode:
Medium Object Mode
= the means used (materials) = what is represented, or = way in which the imitation is
imitated presented
E.g. in poetry: rhythm, E.g. character: inferior, superior, E.g. narration vs. action
language, melody. similar.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card or Stuvia-credit for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller ninagueorguieva. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for $6.92. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
