Media - Historical Periods (Extended) Handout [Prof. Uncapher]

Remember- "Culture neither changes in quantum jumps, nor simultaneously across a whole society.  Rather change- and particularly cultural change- occurs slowly, partially, at different rates for different groups and individuals, and in different forms.  Particular groups and individuals attempt to incorporate, interpret, and go beyond new situations which are imposed upon them, or which they themselves have created.  Some are more successful than others."   Paul Rabinow, Anthropologist

 

I. Oral (3 million - 3500 bce)

·        Era also includes dance, costume, crafts, music and many art forms. Why is it called ‘oral’?

·        How is culture transmitted & stored between generations, and between communities?

·        Language, tools, strategies developments influence one other.  Coordination at many scales.

·        Humans: From scavengers; to hunters/gatherers; to farming/livestock; to cities & trade networks

IIa. (Hand) Written I- Glyph (3500 bce- 750 bce approx.)

·        Used in commerce, then government, & only later in religion and story. Sumerians and clay.

·        Those with access to writing gain power; rise of the power of the scribe and the bureaucrat; scribe/mandarin still must get power from existing ‘state’ structures. What is literacy?

·        Beginning of ‘history’ but told by those who write it. Accumulating info. New religions world-wide

IIb. (Hand) Written II- Alphabetic (750 bce- 1450 ce approx.)

·        Many writing systems without vowels- Greeks add vowels to perfect efficient (‘digital’) system

·        Allows for ‘democratization’? Because easier to learn system, to learn new words

·        Still Greeks/Romans depend on slave and indentured labor!

·        Development of cultures with international literary/business languages (Latin, Greek, Arabic, Pakrit, Chinese), highly local subcultures, scarce books to be memorized to feed a vibrant oral culture, technological experimentation but with slow development.

IIIa. Typographic I (1450-1830 ce.)

·        Chinese/Korean xylographic printing of whole pages predates Gutenberg, some individual character printing, even some use of metal type on paper-  but no Chinese alphabet to work with.

·        Moveable type and printing press changes not only availability but the control of texts.

·        Ongoing decline of both transnational church/scholars and decline of highly local with the emergence of the new centrally organized ‘homogenous’ nation-state. Rise of mass media, literacy, naitonal improved mail; new trade & conquest networks, newspapers-l ‘languages’

·        Printing of scientific tables, images, diagrams key developments; business tables- statistics

IIIb. Typographic II (1830-1980s)- Era of Mass Media

·        Penny paper- rise of advertiser supported distribution paradigm- maximize audience. Why different?

·        Steam Driven Cylindrical Presses- industrial strength printing (1830s)

·        Rise of photography to replace time consuming etching- leads to movies

·        Central production or broadcast to masses: Film, Radio, TV, Publishing

·        Control the distribution points and you can get ‘control’/influence content

IVa. Electronic I (1840s-1940s) - Telegraph, Limited Switch Telephones

·        Telegraph separates transportation and communication- ‘erases space’

·        Telegraph inclines power to the center, encourages hierarchy- only a human ‘switch’

·        Telegraph allows migration to outskirts; allow global coordination.  Why is train time important?

·        Messages become ‘information’- short, needing context.  How much context?

IVb. Electronic II (1940s-present) - Computers and Digital Integration

·        Intelligent switches know about the state of the network, undermine hierarchy

·        Digital as higher order language or code; discrete,  ‘smart, automatic switches’ analyze patterns

·        Analog only stores and reproduces similarity; harder to manipulate

·        Decentralized local info choice economy yet economies of scale for global material economy

·        Decline of mass media; problems of surveillance; dynamic organization

·        Late 20-21th Century: Convergence of: broadcast/movies, print/publishing, & computers

·        Emerging 21st Century convergence of Computer Network/Switch/Software, Biology/Neurology, Quantum Theory, and Complex (Eco) Systems Analysis.