HISTORICALPERSPECTIVESON
MEDIAANDCOMMUNICATION
2019-2020
BACHELORSOCIALSCIENCES PROF.FREDERIKDHAENENS
D.L.Y.
, CHAPTERONE
HISTORIESOFMEDIAANDCOMMUNICATION
1.THEPAST,HISTORYANDHISTORIOGRAPHY
1.1.DEFINITIONS
● Thepast= thetimethathasgoneby;nolongerthepresent
● History= anarrationofthepast
○ Thepresenthastoenterintothepasttobecomevisible,intelligible,writable
○ Noconsensushowmuchtimemustpasstobecomehistorical
○ Notovernight,ittakestimetoseeprocessesofchange
● Aboutpeople,nation-states,relationsbetweenhistoricalevents,socialandeconomicconditions
● Historiography=actualpracticeofwritinghistory
○ Retrospectiveprocess
○ Manydivergentwaysof‘doing’history
1.2.HISTORYASANACADEMICDISCIPLINE
1.2.1.PROFESSIONALISATIONOFTHEDISCIPLINEINTHE19THCENTURY
● Historian= reflectandshare‘thecriticalchangesintheconditionsofasociety’(H.H.Vaughan,1848)
● Introductionhistoryprogramsinvariousuniversities,anchoredwithinhumanitiesandsocialsciences
● Sharedideasaboutthe‘right’wayofdoinghistoryanditssubjectmatter
○ Morescientific(positivist)
○ ExploredanddevelopedinDE
○ LeopoldvonRanke=modernsource-basedhistory
○ Objectivity,rigorousmethodsfortruthclaimsandcarefulinterpretationoftheevidence
○ Nolongerrelyingonchroniclesbutonarchivalmaterial
■ Primarysources
■ Officialgovernmentdocuments
○ Techniquestoassessauthenticityofthematerial
● Sharedinterestinstudyingthenation-state
○ Especiallyadministrativeandconstitutivedevelopments,militaryanddiplomaticrelations
○ Nation-stateshadopeneduptheirarchives
○ Beginning of 20th century: narrative histories on‘politicalandmilitaryelitesthatcreated,defined
andmaintainedthemodernnation-state’(Scannell,p.221)
1.2.2.NARRATIVEHISTORIESCRITICISEDDURINGTHE20THCENTURY
● Methodologicalobjections
○ Privilegingthenarrative
■ Focusonasingleevent,fewkeyactors,chronologicalaction
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, ○ FrenchAnnalesSchool,withF ernandBraudel
■ Narrativehistory=“histoireévénementielle”
⇨ Disregardofallshapingfactorsthatdetermine,shapethehistoricalactorsandtheiractions
⇨ Historical timeignoredthelong-termviewofprocessesofchange(e .g.economichistories
thatmapcyclicalriseandfallofprices)
● Focusongreatmen
○ Elitisthistories
○ Needforsocialhistoriesofordinarypeople
○ Historiesfrombelow
○ Developmentofnewtraditionsin‘60s(e .g.women’shistory,labourhistory,historyofthefamily)
○ Othersubfields,includinghistoryofmediaandcommunication
1.2.3.DIALOGUES,INTERACTIONSANDPARADIGMSHIFTS
● Culturalturninhistory
○ Initiatedbysocialhistoryandculturalanthropologyin1980s
○ Lookatculturetounderstandhistoricalaccountsandevents
○ Howdoesagivencultureunderstand,talkaboutitssociety,politics,economy?
○ Nation-statesconstructedindiscoursesandculture
○ Studyingrituals,performances,recipes
● Challengestohistory’semphasisonempiricism
○ From1960sonwards
○ E.H.Carr’sW
hatisHistory(1961)
○ Objectivityofhistoricalaccounts?
■ Historianissubjectofagivenperiodandtime,shapesinterpretations
○ Objectivityofprimarysources?
■ Infusedwithmeaning
○ Iseveryhistorythenrelative?
■ Middle-of-the-roadapproach=historyisacontinuousprocessofinteractionbetweenthe
historianandhisfacts,anunendingdialoguebetweenthepresentandthepast(p.35)
○ Reflexivityandastrongawarenessofthehistoricalcontext
● Decolonising,dewesternising,andrethinkinghistory
○ FocusonwhitemenandWesternhistories
○ Subfieldofmediahistory:
■ UncriticalapplicationofWesternmediatheoriesonnon-Westernregionsandcountries
■ Refusaltoexplorenon-Westernmediahistories
○ KoichiIwabuchi:itdoesnotmeanthatWesternmediatheoriesareuseless
■ Both the critical interrogation and the innovative application of theories derived from
Western experiences remain useful strategies for opening up fresh perspectives in the
analysisofnon-Westernexperiences(2010).
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, 2.HISTORIESOFMEDIAANDCOMMUNICATION
2.1.HISTORIESOFCOMMUNICATION(SCANNELL)
● Communication>media
● Differenceofhistoricalscale:oralandwrittencommunicationprecedesmedia
● Allhumansocietieshavespokenlanguage(sound?),butnotalldevelopedawrittenlanguage(traces?)
● Historianswillexplorethetransformationsandrelations
● What if you only had speech in a given society? What could you do or not do? What changes whenyou
introducewrittenlanguage?
○ E.g.HowdidtheJapanesesocietydevelopitsideographicsystemsoflanguage?
■ Japan:cameintocontactwithChinesecharactersaroundthe1stCentury
■ NoJapanesewrittenlanguagebeforeitsintroduction
■ AssumedtobeimportedbyChinesepeoplelivinginJapan
■ 7thCentury:usingChinesecharacterstorepresentJapanesespokenlanguage
■ Man'yōgana,andoriginallyusedtorecordpoetry
● FocusonHaroldInnisandMarshallMcLuhan
● Synopticapproach:synopsisofhistoricaleventsthattookplacewithinlargetimespansandthatembracea
‘global’viewofhistory
● Externalfactorsdeterminescaleandscopeofhumanagencyratherthanseeinghumansashistoricalagents
● Impactoftechnologiesonsocietiesandpeople
● Technologies:farfromneutral,co-constructhowtheyareusedorwhattheymeaninsociety
● HaroldInnis:communicationinancientsocieties
Onlyspeech? Writtenlanguage
○ Small,nomadicorpastoralcommunities ○ Recordingsocialmemory
○ Consequenceofface-to-faceinteraction ○ Expansionovertimeandspace
○ Socialmemoryistransmittedorally ○ Politicalandeconomicpower
○ Literacy:education,control,distinction
● MarshallMcLuhan:communicationinmodernsocieties
○ Impactprinting(late15thCentury)onmanuscriptculture
○ ModernisationofEuropein16thCenturylinkedtospreadofbooks
○ Knowledgecommunitiesbasedonprint
○ 20thCentury:electronicmediaas‘rescuers’oforalcommunication
○ Globalramifications:alteringandreducingoftimeandspace
○ ⇒ ⇒
Globalcapitalism globalculture globalvillage
○ McLuhan:criticalofthisadvancementornot?
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