Taking
the title of this module as a kicking-off point for this introductory lecture,
this week we will seek to map out the kinds of approaches and areas of study
that we will be taking in this semester.Taking
the title of this module as a kicking-off point for this introductory lecture,
this week we will seek to map out the kinds of approaches and areas of study
that we will be taking in this semester.
This module is a theoretically-based course with its roots in cultural studies. It will draw on research conducted by sociologists, by ethnographers, by linguists, by historians, by literary critics, by media and cultural theorists in order to study the cultural practices clustered around computers.
This module will also draw on the ideas and objects developed by Hollywood, Hackers, musicians, journalists, authors, artists and enthusiasts ( and hopefully the views of everybody on the course as well!) in order to root our discussions in the language and interests of the culture it is discussing.
This module will take a classic social science approach to its subject, setting out its methodologies and practices in detail before going on to 'interrogate' the key concepts of the media and cyberculture, in order to develop a critical understanding of our objects of study. This course will be full of question marks.
And it will also involve
turning things around to take a slightly different look at the subject!
In particular this module will ask questions like:-
In doing so, it will then seek to identify research methods and intellectual frameworks that will attempt to answer these and other questions. This course introduce theoretical terms such as Convergence, Mediamorphosis, Remediation and Hypertext. However, it will not use these terms uncritically.
There will also be copious references (in books, journals and on-line) to be looked up and there will be workshop sessions in which we will take a 'hands-on' approach, by looking at examples of the issues under discussion.
What do we mean when we are saying we are 'Doing Cultural Studies'?
This course will look at the most interesting technological artefacts of the 20th and 21st century and will seek to understand these technological artefacts in terms of their wider cultural framework. This will involve an approach that will focus on processes rather than products, and on the social and political as well as the technological.
This is probably best understood by jumping to What is this?
Daniel Bell quotes Paul Gat et al's study Doing Cultural Studies : the story of the Sony Walkman highlighting a model of Cultural Studies that recognises "complex linkages between…processes"(Bell 70:2001).
The five key points recognised by this approach are: -
However, as Bell outlines there are many more ways of approaching and identifying our discourse.
I
know from personal experience that researching the New Media is a daunting task.
There are a surprisingly large number of books on the subject now, plus there
is an ever-growing mound of journal articles, and of course there is the web
itself. It all appears to be rather complicated. So....Where to start?
I am not going to answer that question directly as the rest of this course seeks to address this question. A How-to Guide would be self-defeating as "methods should be adaptive" ( Bell 203:2001). However, I will say here at the start that Media and Cyberculture is a course about thinking, or to put it another way this module is about learning about many different ways of thinking.
I will, however, flag up a few notes of caution about using on-line sources as research resources.
As Bell notes in in his Chapter 'Researching Cybercultures' (186: 2001) there are a number of issues that need to be taken into consideration when conducting on-line research. In particular, one you should be aware of: -
Reliability and Validity of the source - on-line documents are rarely peer reviewed and there are one or two interesting spoof sites which are more than they seem. The Internet is rich in information, however as Bell notes " Information is not knowledge: knowledge comes from sorting, filtering, and using information." ( Bell 192:2001)
As well as this issue you should be aware of the following issues:-
Firstly, let's look at the title of our course and problematize a bit!
Media? and Cyberculture? See..... lots of of Question Marks Already!
Classic 20th century discourse on the media focuses our attention on broadcasting and the mass media. This approach has meant that 'the media' have been defined as being synonymous with television, radio and newspapers. This approach quite rightly focuses on such issues as means of production, governance and regulation as important aspects of modern life. However, this approach runs into a number of problems. For example:
The study of the Internet, as an example of computer mediation, has raised all sorts of issues that have forced media theorists and practitioners to look again at the key questions of Media Studies, namely
1. What do we mean by Media? and
2. Why is Media Studies an important subject to study?
Early accounts of computer mediation often stressed its revolutionary qualities and made great claims for its uniqueness. This approach gave rise to the term 'New Media' and a number of myths about the special qualities of its technologies. For example, the Internet promotes democracy and free-speech. However, more recent accounts of computer mediation have questioned this approach, suggesting we should look at the technology as part of the wider culture of the early 21st Century.
Next weeks lecture will begin by talking about New vs Old Media? It will ask the question - Is this really a useful distinction?
We will discuss the nature of mediation and the differences and common-ground between what are termed 'old' and 'new' media. We will look at the technology, structure and institutions of the 'new media' and context them within the wider cultural framework.
In week 3 we will be looking at concepts of cyberspace. This is a subject that has been studied by a number of researchers from different disciplines. For example -
As a starting point of our study of cyberculture we are going to keep a media diary for the next week This is a classic undergraduate media studies exercise. Sit down and fill in the boxes. However, as Master Students we are first going to question the methodology, the classifications of the items included in our diary.
In the following weeks we will continue to build up a theoretical framework while also introducing some interesting case studies. In particular, we will take a close look at:
We will also spend some time working and playing with a Multi-user environment, so that you can experience at first hand some of the opportunities, issues and anxieties associated with these iconic 'cybercultural' phenomenon.
Bell, David (2001) An Introduction to Cybercultures Routledge, London
Potter, W. James ( 2001) Media Literacy ( 2nd Edition) Sage Publication, Thousand
Oaks, London, New Delhi.
