Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
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NewMediaandthefallofthePolishPeople’sRepublic
Mediainthesociety
Itisworthstartingourworkwithafewgeneral,arguablyevenobviousre-
marksonmediasensulargoandhowtheyfunctionedinthesociety.Mediaisused
forcommunication.Teterm“communication”containsintentionalambi-
guityconnectedwithtwobasicmeaningsoftheword.Firstly,communication
isadeeplyhumanactivity,basedonsharingsigns,whichultimatelyconveyex-
perience,emotions,andviewpoints.Inanutshell,communicationisunderstood
hereasinthetitleofJamesW.Carey’sfamousbook-simplyasculture.1Mediais,
therefore,intheveryheartofhumanculture.Tiscanbeunderstoodinageneral
andmetaphoricalway,aswellasinaspecificandhistoricalmanner.Ontheone
hand,itishowweusemediatocommunicatethatmakeustangiblyhuman.On
theother,mediaplacesusinaculturalrealitywhichischangeableandunique.
CitedbyCarey,JohnDeweysays:“Societynotonlycontinuestoexistbytrans-
mission,bycommunication,butitmayfairlybesaidtoexistintransmission,
incommunication.”2Tequotepertainstothehistoriesandeverydaylivesofnu-
merousspecificsocieties.
Communicationisalsotransmission-andthisisthesecondbasic,“cyber-
netic”waythistermmaybeunderstood.Inthiscontext,communicationcreates
anetworkofexchangesofsigns,information,andgoods,whicharemovedfrom
oneplacetoanother.Tusunderstood,communicationcanbeachievedwithout
buildingacommunity,withoutahomogenousmentalmap,withoutemotional
engagement.Terefore,itcanpertainnotonlytohumans,butalsotoanimalsor
machines.
Tesetwomeanings,althoughapparentlycontradictory,infactcomple-
menteachother.ByturningonatapeoraDVDplayer,Ibegintocommuni-
catewiththedeviceasweexchangeinformation.Tebuildersofthedevice
also,inasense,communicatewithme.Wecollectivelyshareasimilarviewon
thedevice:togetherweassumethesamegeneralaimandmethodofusingany
givenpieceoftechnology,whichhelpstheindividualunderstandhowtoturn
onandusethedevice.Forexample,Iknowwhatthearrowsandotherpicto-
gramsonthebutonsmean.Whenanimageappearsonthescreenitscreators
communicatewithmeandengageincomplexideological,aesthetic,andother
typesofrelations.
1JamesW.Carey,CommunicationasCulture.EssaysonMediaandSociety(New
York:Routledge,2009).
2JohnDewey,Democracyandeducation,ProjectGutenberg,accessedMay17,
2019,htps://www.gutenberg.org/files/852/852-h/852-h.htm
