The messenger as a model in Media Theory. Reflections on the philosophical di-mensions of theorizing Media
Publikation: Beiträge in Sammelwerken › Kapitel › begutachtet
Standard
Media Transatlantic: Developments in Media and Communication Studies Between North American and German-Speaking Europe. Hrsg. / Norm Friesen. Cham: Springer Verlag, 2016. S. 197-213.
Publikation: Beiträge in Sammelwerken › Kapitel › begutachtet
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - CHAP
T1 - The messenger as a model in Media Theory. Reflections on the philosophical di-mensions of theorizing Media
AU - Krämer, Sybille
PY - 2016/1/1
Y1 - 2016/1/1
N2 - The concept of communication leads a double life in German discourse. On the one hand, there is the theory of communicative action, coupled with universal pragmatics, and associated with Jürgen Habermas. On the other, there are technical-material theories of communication, derived from the Shannon-Weaver model, and often associated with the name of Friedrich Kittler. Both types of theory converge on a single point: language and media are autonomous and function like an Archimedian point and an a priori. Is it possible to develop a philosophy of the media without following such stances on language and media determinism? This question can be answered in the affirmative only if we reject the thesis that media are autonomous and look at them as heteronomous. The constitutive heteronomy of media is explained from the perspective of a “messenger-model.” Its heuristic value consists in the fact that it rehabilitates and explains the productivity of “transmission” and “transgression” in very different cultural and natural fields. Three messenger-figures are analysed: the religious idea of an angel, the physiological concept of a virus, the juridical and epistemic institution of the witness.
AB - The concept of communication leads a double life in German discourse. On the one hand, there is the theory of communicative action, coupled with universal pragmatics, and associated with Jürgen Habermas. On the other, there are technical-material theories of communication, derived from the Shannon-Weaver model, and often associated with the name of Friedrich Kittler. Both types of theory converge on a single point: language and media are autonomous and function like an Archimedian point and an a priori. Is it possible to develop a philosophy of the media without following such stances on language and media determinism? This question can be answered in the affirmative only if we reject the thesis that media are autonomous and look at them as heteronomous. The constitutive heteronomy of media is explained from the perspective of a “messenger-model.” Its heuristic value consists in the fact that it rehabilitates and explains the productivity of “transmission” and “transgression” in very different cultural and natural fields. Three messenger-figures are analysed: the religious idea of an angel, the physiological concept of a virus, the juridical and epistemic institution of the witness.
KW - Philosophy
KW - Media and communication studies
KW - Concept of communication
KW - Media theory
KW - Philosophy of theorizing media
UR - https://www.springer.com/de/book/9783319284873
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85013074593&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/978-3-319-28489-7_11
DO - 10.1007/978-3-319-28489-7_11
M3 - Chapter
SN - 978-3-319-28489-7
SP - 197
EP - 213
BT - Media Transatlantic
A2 - , Norm Friesen
PB - Springer Verlag
CY - Cham
ER -