(most are answered with bullet points as they serve more as discussion questions)
WEEK 1: NEW MEDIA: HOW AND WHY DO WE STUDY THEM?
Key concepts:
- Technological determinism: Technology is the mediator of the environment of the human
condition, without us being aware of such. This means that technology is the sole impactor that
drives cultural change within our societies.
- Physicalism: A theory of technology that prioritizes physical aspects and the conjunction of such
with the physical aspects of humans. Physicalism considers everything in the universe to adhere
to and be a part of the physical world, crucially this includes culture as a part of the physical
world.
- Social Constructivism: In opposition to technological determinism, social constructivism is the
belief that all human development is socially situated and a product of our interactions with one
another
- Humanism: “Everything is by man and for man.” Humanization is the prioritization of the
subject rather than the material it interacts with. It is a philosophical perspective that focuses on
the agency and rational thought of human beings. The belief is that instead of relying on religion
or any other kind of mysterious idea humans rely on their own agency to create change.
- Remediation: Remediation is the notion that every new media takes the different aspects of
previously existing forms of media and incorporates or adapts them to form a new more relevant
medium. Originally from Marshall McLuhan. Example: cinema based on preexisting theatrical
conventions
1. What are the two approaches in the study of new media? How do these approaches relate to
Marshall McLuhan and Raymond Williams? (77-78)
One approach considers media as a determiner, while the other as determining. In the case of the former,
it is the media technologies capable of causing cultural shifts, and according to the latter, it is the human
agency behind the emergence of these media technologies that determine its use and possible effects.
Therefore, one sees new media as revolutionary while the other as only sustaining already existing power
structures (business as usual). Marshall McLuhan, focusing on new media from a perspective of
psychology and biology, conceives media as having an agency, therefore, relating to the first of the
approaches mentioned. Raymond Williams, on the other hand, with perspective from sociology, focuses
, on the human agency as responsible for any effects associated with new media technologies, so, relates to
the second of the approaches.
2. How do McLuhan’s and Williams’ approaches to media differ from one another? (78-80)
McLuhan’s approach is described as non-linear (by him noted as a mosaic), which escapes the academic
traditions (perhaps more significantly at the time of his working), and so is thought of as provocative or
playful. Consequently, this approach also brought about insights that were for many others considered as
thought-provoking, and so were further developed by many influential media theorists (such as
Baudrillard, Virilio, Kroker, De Kerckhov) (Lister 2009: 78). Nevertheless, McLuhan is due to his
approach, in academia considered cautiously, as it is noted “he is seen as theoretically unsubtle and
inconsistent thinker who provokes others to think” (Silverstone 1999: 21) In contrast, Williams’ approach
follows a systematic theoretical foundation and presents fundamental insights in thinking about media as
shaping cultural formation. (Lister 2009: 78) Williams has established a well-respected humanist
viewpoint in media studies. It is further suggested that to grasp the complexities of the new media
landscape, there is a need to look beyond such a framework.
3. What are the four media cultures that McLuhan conceives of? What are the main characteristics
of these cultures? Which of McLuhan’s ideas forms the basis for the conception of these media
cultures? (80-82)
- ‘Primitive’ oral culture: In ‘primitive’, pre-literate cultures, the environment was dominated by
the sense of hearing. Speaking and hearing speech were the main forms of communication.
McLuhan understands the ear as hypersensitive, turning man over a universal panic.
- Culture of literacy: This culture is regarded by McLuhan as an improvement of oral culture,
maintaining a new balance between aural and visual. This can be seen in public readings, the
combination of both reading and spoken word.
- Print culture: Through the mass reproduction of the printing press and linear lines of cause and
effect, print culture has developed to leave those in it with a fragmented senorial life, as the need
for auditory relations began to diminish. “Hypnotized by the eye.” (Lister, 82) McLuhan dislikes
this culture as it leads to the tyranny of vision.
- Electronic culture: This is what McLuhan refers to as a “global village.” From telegraph to
television to computers, we regain oral culture within an acoustic space. There is a connectivity
and convergence found within this culture.
