Beyond Digital Euphoria: The Change of Media from a Critical Perspective

31.08.2012

Book Presentation with Nick Coudry, Andreas Hepp and Hubert Knoblauch on September 7, 4pm at the "Wissenschaftszentrum" in Berlin

The German presentation of the books „Culture, Communication and Creativity“ „Media, Society, World: Social Theory and Digital Media Practice“ von Nick Couldry (Goldsmiths, University of London), „Cultures of Mediatization“ von Andreas Hepp (University of Bremen) und „Powerpoint, Communication, and the Knowledge Society“ von Hubert Knoblauch (TU Berlin) takes place on the fringes of the conference „Culture, Communication and Creativity“. Point of time is Friday the 7th of September 2012 at 4pm at the "Wissenschaftszentrum" (WZB) in Berlin, Room A 300, Reichpietschufer 50, 10785 Berlin.

The book from Nick Couldry with the title „Media, Society, World“ addresses how fundamentally media change our social worlds and how these processes increased with the emergence of digital media. But this development is not seen in an uncritical perspective. In fact it is needed a basic understanding regarding the social practices that are intevowen with media as well as a reflection about the assumption that media contribute to create a assumed "centre" of culture and society. A critical approach can be realized when the needs of the people are in teh centre of consideration. Furthermore a new media ethics can derivated from this results.

In the book „Cultures of Mediatization“ Andreas Hepp focuses on the intersection of our worlds of everyday life by media. Mediatization does not only mean that we are aiming at a single media logic. In fact different parts of our ife and social actions and communitization refer to media in different ways. Thereby we have to take the amalgamation of TV, mobile phone, Internet and so on, into consideration. We increaslingly live in different "mediatized worlds". At the same time, we are connected which each other through the fact that our cultures become media cultures.

Also the book „Powerpoint, Communication, and the Knowledge Society“ by Hubert Knoblauch deals with a media technological change. In this first comprehensive analysis power point presentations are researched as communicative categories. The analysis shows how the interplay of technical medium, presentation of the speaker and his/her interaction with the audience takes a performative shape which became an integral part of our society understood as a knowledge society.

The books describe with these topics not only very current challenges of the change of society, culture and media. It is also written in a way that a broad audience will be interested.

More information about the publication on the website of the publisher Polity Press (http://www.polity.co.uk) and Cambridge University Press (http://www.cambridge.org).

For infos regarding the conference and the place of presentation please visit http://culture-communication-creativity.eu/programme/evening-events, For applicating for the book presentation please contact Dr. Leif Kramp (kramp[at]uni-bremen.de).

You can download the German press report here.