MT 6.2 – Out Now!
Media Theory 6.2 (2022) is now available: a special issue on Pharmacologies of Media, edited by Scott Wark and Yigit Soncul. Read the issue here: http://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/issue/view/11
MT 6.1 – Out Now!
The new standard issue of Media Theory (6.1, 2022) is now available, featuring articles from John Armitage, Florian Sprenger, Sara Callahan and Calum Hazell, a commentary essay from Natasha Lushetich, and an interview between Jane Birkin and Jussi Parikka. Available here: http://journalcontent.mediatheoryjournal.org/index.php/mt/issue/view/10
Ganaele Langlois: Cosmomedia
Cosmomedia: Natural Dyes in Japan GANAELE LANGLOIS York University, Toronto, CANADA Abstract This article explores John Durham Peters’ concepts of ‘communication as (impossible) communion’ and ‘elemental media’ by turning to the Japanese traditions of naturally dyed textiles. The article explores the politics of encounter that naturally-dyed textiles enable and links them to the Read More …
Carrie Rentschler: The Eavesdropper and Onlooker
The Eavesdropper and Onlooker as Proximate Agents of Social Change CARRIE RENTSCHLER McGill University, CANADA Abstract The eavesdropper and the onlooker have become models of activist potential. Their proximity to enactments of racist and gendered social violence, and their abilities to witness, record and disseminate records of this violence via smartphones and social Read More …
Amit Pinchevski: Mutually Assured Heteronomy
Mutually Assured Heteronomy: On the Ethics and Politics of Dialogue and Dissemination AMIT PINCHEVSKI The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, ISRAEL Abstract Setting dialogue in opposition to dissemination is one of the main themes of Speaking into the Air. This however does not entail regarding them as dichotomous or mutually exclusive. This article proposes that dialogue and dissemination are in fact interconnected, forming Read More …
Benjamin Peters: Russian Media Theory
Russian Media Theory: Is There Any? Should There Be? How About These? BENJAMIN PETERS University of Tulsa, USA Abstract This paper makes a bibliographic case for as well as several arguments against the existence of a body of media theory named ‘Russian media theory’. Elements of the Slavic intellectual tradition are briefly surveyed in Read More …
Radha S. Hegde: Speaking Miscommunication
Speaking Miscommunication: Bridging a Postcolonial Abyss RADHA SARMA HEGDE New York University, USA Abstract The dualistic view of communication as both disease and cure, raised by John Durham Peters in Speaking into the Air, continues to gain traction globally. This view of communication has followed the itineraries of the neoliberal economy and its expectations. Read More …
Karim H. Karim: Speaking into the Ear
Speaking into the Ear: Fecund Truth’s Virgin Medium KARIM H. KARIM Carleton University, CANADA Abstract Contrary to the widespread view of myth as falsehood, its hermeneutic interpretation has long been seen as providing insight for life’s conundrums. Peters’ (1999) juxtaposition of perfect angelic exchanges of meaning with flawed human discourse opens up fresh approaches Read More …
Amanda Lagerkvist: Whispers of a Secret
Whispers of a Secret: From Non-reception to New Life in Existential Media Studies – Speaking into the Air in Sweden AMANDA LAGERKVIST Uppsala University, SWEDEN Abstract Upon arrival in Sweden, Speaking into the Air was not spoken about. Instead, it was whispered about—often with admiration, sometimes in perplexment. This article contextualizes the non-reception in Read More …
Tamara Kneese: Breakdown as Method
Breakdown as Method: Screenshots for Dying Worlds TAMARA KNEESE University of San Francisco, USA Abstract Drawing on John Durham Peters’ theory of (mis)communication and other studies of precarious infrastructure (Hicks, 2020; Star, 1999; Pow, 2021; Tsing, 2015), in this article, I consider mortality or finitude as a site of communication breakdown, focusing on the Read More …