MEDIA ECOLOGY Exploring the metaphor Carlos A Scolari

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MEDIA ECOLOGY. Exploring the metaphor. Carlos A. Scolari - Universitat Pompeu Fabra carlos. scolari@gmail.

MEDIA ECOLOGY. Exploring the metaphor. Carlos A. Scolari - Universitat Pompeu Fabra carlos. scolari@gmail. com www. digitalismo. com - www. hipermediaciones. com - www. modernclicks. net

Media Ecology 1960 s Mc. Luhan introduces the concept in private communications 1960 1968

Media Ecology 1960 s Mc. Luhan introduces the concept in private communications 1960 1968 N. Postman National Council of Teachers of English Conference 1971 Media Ecology program at NY University 1970 2000 MEA Inaugural Convention 1980 1990 2000 “Medium Theory” Meyrowitz , J. 1985 No sense of place: the impact of electronic media on social behavior

‘Every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past,

‘Every writer creates his own precursors. His work modifies our conception of the past, as it will modify the future’ (1964: 199). Jorge Luis Borges Kafka and His Precursors

N. Postman M. Mc. Luhan W. Ong J. Goody L. Mumford H. Innis J.

N. Postman M. Mc. Luhan W. Ong J. Goody L. Mumford H. Innis J. Ellull E. Havelock

Metaphor and theory à ‘Metaphors matter’ (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). à Metaphors are basic

Metaphor and theory à ‘Metaphors matter’ (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). à Metaphors are basic for scientific discourse and theoretical modelling Boom of the ecological metaphor à Cultural ecology (1955) à Biosemiotics (1962) à Biolinguistic (1967) à Ecological anthropology (1968) à Media Ecology (1968) à Political ecology (1972) à Sociobiology (1975) à Human behavioral ecology (1975) à Industrial ecology (1989) à Spatial ecology (1989) à Ecolinguistics (1990) à Communicative ecology (1995) à Historical ecology (1998) à Information ecologies (1999) Howard and Eugene Odum (1953) Fundamentals of Ecology

Interpretations of metaphor (I) Media as environments à ‘ME is the study of media

Interpretations of metaphor (I) Media as environments à ‘ME is the study of media as environments’ (Postman, 1970). à ‘ME looks into the matter of how media of communication affect human perception, understanding, feeling, and value (Postman, 1970). à ‘Media are extensions’ (Mc. Luhan, 1964). à ‘Technology alter sense ratios or patterns of perception steadily and without any resistance’ (Mc. Luhan, 1964). This is the environmental dimension of Media Ecology: media create an ‘environment’ that surrounds the individuals and models their perception and cognition.

Interpretations of metaphor (II) Intermedia relations à ‘The steadying influence of the book as

Interpretations of metaphor (II) Intermedia relations à ‘The steadying influence of the book as a product of sustain intellectual effort was destroyed by new developments in periodicals and newspapers’ (Innis, 1951). à ‘The potential of the telegraph to transform information into a commodity might never have been realized, except for the partnership between the telegraph and the press’ (Postman, 1985). à ‘No medium has its meaning or existence alone, but only in constant interplay with other media” (Mc. Luhan, 1964). This is the intermedia dimension of Media Ecology: media are like ‘species’ that live in the same ecosystem and establish relationships between them.

Exploring a scientific metaphor means analyzing the semantic universe of the analogy, translating the

Exploring a scientific metaphor means analyzing the semantic universe of the analogy, translating the basic assumptions from one field to another to check the strength of the metaphor and identify new questions and challenges for media studies. I will limit my reflection to a short list of concepts: Evolution Interface Hybridization

Evolution Origins à Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) Dictionary Mutation, natural

Evolution Origins à Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species (1859) Dictionary Mutation, natural selection, competence, extinction, bifurcation, micro-evolution, macro-evolution. Key-ideas à Ecology thinks in space while evolution thinks in time. Evolution - Diachronic (Temporal axis) Ecology - Synchronic (Spatial axis)

Evolution Expansion of the metaphor à Evolution has been immediately applied to Social Sciences

Evolution Expansion of the metaphor à Evolution has been immediately applied to Social Sciences (Marx --> 1867 Das Kapital) à Evolution of technology: Simon, 1969; Basalla, 1988; Kelly, 1992; Diamond, 1999; Saviotti, 2006; Ziman, 2000; Frenken, 2006; Arthur, 2009. à Evolution of communication: speech, body-language, fiction and music (Mellor, 1990); art (Dutton, 2009); narrative (Boyd, 2009); literary genres (Moretti, 2005).

Extinction Questions à Can media become extinct? à Are we assisting to the extinction

Extinction Questions à Can media become extinct? à Are we assisting to the extinction of mass media and broadcasting? à The history of media is full of technological fossils (from papyrus to telegraph). à But do media really become extinct? Do they, as Mc. Luhan postulated, survive in the content of the ‘new’ media? Carlon, C. / Scolari, C. (2009) El Fin de los Medios Masivos. El comienzo de un debate

Big Bang New media species

Big Bang New media species

Explosion Punctuated equilibrium (Eldredge and Gould, 1972) à Rapid events of branching speciation à

Explosion Punctuated equilibrium (Eldredge and Gould, 1972) à Rapid events of branching speciation à Applied by: - Franco Moretti (2005) -> literary genres (1740 -1900) - Bob Logan (2007) -> explosion of languages Questions à Are we assisting to an explosion of ‘new’ media and communication practices? à Can we re-write the history of media from this perspective?

Interfaces Interface: a key-concept? à Like system in the 1950 s, structure in the

Interfaces Interface: a key-concept? à Like system in the 1950 s, structure in the 1960 s, or text in the 1980 s, interface may be the key concept of the new generation of social scientists. à Human-machine interface à Technology-technology interface Key-idea à Every media has an interface (human-technology interface) and, at the same time, every media is an interface (technology-technology interface).

Interfaces Media interfaces à The interface is the place where the evolution of the

Interfaces Media interfaces à The interface is the place where the evolution of the media is negotiated -> human-media coevolution à The interface is also the place where media interact between them -> intermedia coevolution Key-ideas à The interface is the ‘environment’ that media ecologists have been analyzing for the last 50 years. à The study of the interfaces could be considered the micro-level of Media Ecology analysis, the minimal unit of analysis (like the sign for Linguistics or the gene for Genetics)

Coevolution Concept à Coevolution is also a key concept for Media Ecology. Questions Human-media

Coevolution Concept à Coevolution is also a key concept for Media Ecology. Questions Human-media coevolution à How do consumers (readers, viewers, users) coevolve with their media? à How do media coevolve with their consumers? Intermedia coevolution à How do two or more media coevolve together (cinema/TV, web/newspapers, etc. )? à Hybridizations / Remediations

Intermedia coevolution

Intermedia coevolution

Conclusions In a few words… à To expand the ecological metaphor… … mans to

Conclusions In a few words… à To expand the ecological metaphor… … mans to increase the dictionary and explore new research lines: à Media evolution à Interface à Human-media coevolution à Intermedia coevolution / Hybridizations

Thanks! à Email: carlos. scolari@gmail. com à Facebook: carlos. scolari à Twitter: cscolari à

Thanks! à Email: carlos. scolari@gmail. com à Facebook: carlos. scolari à Twitter: cscolari à Blog I: www. digitalismo. com à Blog II: www. hipermediaciones. com à Website: www. modernclicks. net Carlos A. Scolari Gracias! Universitat Pompeu Fabra Barcelona