Libros

This provocative text considers the state of media and cultural studies today after the demolition of the traditional media paradigm, and engages with the new, active consumer culture.

Media Studies, particularly within schools, has until recently been concerned with mass media and the effects of ‘the media’ in society and on people. As new media technology has blurred the boundaries between the audience and the media, the status of this area of education is threatened. Whilst some have called for a drastic re-think (Media Studies 2.1), others have called for caution, arguing that the power dynamics of ownership and gatekeeping are left intact.

This book uses cultural and technological change as a context for a more forensic exploration of the traditional dependence on the idea of ‘the media’ as one homogenous unit. It suggests that it would be liberating for students, teachers and academics to depart from such a model and shift the focus to people and how they create culture in this contemporary ‘mediascape’.

The authors work through the classic conceptual framework of media studies considering a wide variety of topics, including:

•genre
•narrative
•audience
•representation
•identity
•ideology
•power
For each concept, using a rich range of texts and events, this book wrestles with the pressing question of how media education should deal with these areas ‘after the media’.

La tecnología actual nos brinda la posibilidad de reprogramar la materia, animada o no, visible o invisible, y modificar sus patrones básicos de funcionamiento. Si queremos llevarnos bien con ella, habremos de dejar de considerarla como un instrumento, renunciando a cualquier ilusión de dominarla o de ser dueños de ella, y estableciendo unos límites razonables para que no nos sobrepase y terminemos prisioneros de sus servidumbres y víctimas de sus excesos. En un mundo donde la única felicidad posible parece ser la tecnológica, este ensayo aborda la relación que el hombre mantiene con ella, examina con mirada crítica el desarrollo tecnológico que promueve el capitalismo y señala que es el momento de dejar de vivir en una sociedad anónima, para empezar a vivir en una sociedad donde sea el hombre el que dote de sentido a la tecnología en vez de la tecnología al hombre. Porque la técnica perfecta y la máquina perfecta no existen.