Connect and Divide : The Practice Turn in Media Studies

Ulrike Bergermann

ISBN 10: 3035800510 / ISBN 13: 9783035800517

Published by Diaphanes Mär 2021, 2021

About this Item

Neuware - Media divide and connect simultaneously: they act as intermediaries between otherwise disconnected entities, and as a 'middle' that mediates, but also shields different entities from each other. This ambiguity gives rise to conflicting interpretations, and it evokes all those figures that give a first clue about this janus-faced relationship of 'connect and divide': gate-keeper, parasite, amongst others. If we give accounts of media before and after their mediated action, we refer to persons and organizations, automatisms and artifacts, signals and inscriptions, and we seem to find it easy to refer to their distinct potentials and dis/abilities. But within the interaction - the 'middle' of media itself seems to be distributed right across the mix of material, semiotic and personal entities involved, and the location of agency is hard to pin down. In case of breakdown we have to disentangle the mix; in case of smooth operations action becomes all the more distributed and potentially untraceable - which makes its attribution a matter of the simultaneously occuring distribution of (official and unofficial) knowledge, labour and power. The empirical and historical investigation of this two-faced relationship of 'connect and divide' has thus resulted in a veritable 'practice turn in media studies.' The publication studies four aspects of the practice turn in media studies: Media history from a praxeological perspective, the practice turn in religion and media studies, the connecting and dividing lines of media theories concerning gender and post_colonial agencies, and a historical and theoretical examination of the current relationship of media theory and practice theory.

Seller Inventory # 9783035800517

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Connect and Divide : The Practice Turn in Media Studies
• Publisher: Diaphanes Mär 2021
• Publication Date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3035800510
• ISBN 13: 9783035800517
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 240W x 171H x 30D millimeters 240 millimeters width by 171 millimeters height by 30 millimeters depth
• Weight: 524 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Media is a kind of gatekeeper, connecting disparate entities and shielding them from one another at the same time. When we speak of media, we often refer to those entities themselves—to persons, organizations, artifacts, signals, and inscriptions—referencing directors, artists, newspapers, films, iPhones, paper, ink, notes, beats, color, and soundwaves. But as the middle or between, the essence of media itself seems to be distributed across the mix of entities involved, and its location and agency are hard to pin down.

This new anthology takes stock of our empirical and historical understanding of the two-sided nature of media and tracks the recent turn in media studies to examining practice itself. A unique discussion of the intersection of media theory and practice theory, Connect and Divide explores how distributions of knowledge, labor, and power may be hidden in what remains untraceable about media, shedding vital light on the social implications of media theory today.

About the Author

Ulrike Bergermann is professor of media studies at the Braunschweig University of Art in Germany. Monika Dommann is professor of history at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. Erhard Schüttpelz is professor of media studies at the University of Siegen in Germany. Jeremy Stolow is associate professor of communication studies at Concordia University in Canada.