Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies
Since the 1980s, digital materialism has received increasing interest in the field of media studies. Materialism as a theoretical paradigm assumes that all things in the world are tied to physical processes and matter. Yet within digital media studies, the understanding of what should be the core ob...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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University of Westminster Press
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
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| Online Access: | https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/206/ |
| _version_ | 1819226482979897344 |
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| author | Nathalie Casemajor |
| author_facet | Nathalie Casemajor |
| author_sort | Nathalie Casemajor |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Since the 1980s, digital materialism has received increasing interest in the field of media studies. Materialism as a theoretical paradigm assumes that all things in the world are tied to physical processes and matter. Yet within digital media studies, the understanding of what should be the core object of a materialist analysis is debated. This paper proposes to untangle some of the principal theoretical propositions that compose the field of digital materialism. It outlines six frameworks that share the assumption that digital stuff is composed of material entities: the Berlin School of media, the field of software studies, the literary critique of electronic texts, the forensic approach, the ‘new materialist’ media ecology, and the field of Marxian critical studies. These different options are positioned along three main lines of tensions: between a semantic and an engineer’s perspective on media, between technological and social determinism, and between critical or post-humanist political propositions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:26:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76cb09d9f7574a64947aaecc607c1037 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-6716 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T10:26:12Z |
| publishDate | 2015-09-01 |
| publisher | University of Westminster Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
| spelling | doaj.art-76cb09d9f7574a64947aaecc607c10372022-12-21T17:50:34ZengUniversity of Westminster PressWestminster Papers in Communication and Culture1744-67162015-09-0110110.16997/wpcc.209Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media StudiesNathalie Casemajor0Assistant Professor in Communication, Department of Social Sciences, University of QuébecSince the 1980s, digital materialism has received increasing interest in the field of media studies. Materialism as a theoretical paradigm assumes that all things in the world are tied to physical processes and matter. Yet within digital media studies, the understanding of what should be the core object of a materialist analysis is debated. This paper proposes to untangle some of the principal theoretical propositions that compose the field of digital materialism. It outlines six frameworks that share the assumption that digital stuff is composed of material entities: the Berlin School of media, the field of software studies, the literary critique of electronic texts, the forensic approach, the ‘new materialist’ media ecology, and the field of Marxian critical studies. These different options are positioned along three main lines of tensions: between a semantic and an engineer’s perspective on media, between technological and social determinism, and between critical or post-humanist political propositions.https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/206/ecologypoliticsmaterialismimmaterialitydigital |
| spellingShingle | Nathalie Casemajor Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture ecology politics materialism immateriality digital |
| title | Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies |
| title_full | Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies |
| title_fullStr | Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies |
| title_full_unstemmed | Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies |
| title_short | Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies |
| title_sort | digital materialisms frameworks for digital media studies |
| topic | ecology politics materialism immateriality digital |
| url | https://www.westminsterpapers.org/article/id/206/ |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT nathaliecasemajor digitalmaterialismsframeworksfordigitalmediastudies |