Beyond New Media: Discourse and Critique in a Polymediated Age

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Description

Beyond New Media: Discourse and Critique in a Polymediated Age examines a host of differing positions on media in order to explore how those positions can inform one another and build a basis for future engagements with media theory, research, and practice. Herbig, Herrmann, and Tyma have brought together a number of media scholars with differing paradigmatic backgrounds to debate the relative applicability of existing theories and in doing so develop a new approach: polymediation. Each contributors disciplinary background is diverse, spanning interpersonal communication, media studies, organizational communication, instructional design, rhetoric, mass communication, gender studies, popular culture studies, informatics, and persuasion. Although each of these scholars brings with them a unique perspective on medias role in peoples lives, what binds them together is the belief that meaningful discourse about media must be an ongoing conversation that is open to critique and revision in a rapidly changing mediated culture. By studying media in a polymediated way, Beyond New Media addresses more completely our complex relationship to media(tion) in our everyday lives.

Reviews

This edited collection is the third in the 'Studies in New Media' series (begun in 2012). Herbig, Herrmann, and Tyma offer eight essays that focus on and forward polymedia, a concept introduced by Mirca Madianou and Daniel Miller. The editors begin by defining polymedia (a noun that also has verb, adjective, and adverb forms) as a means of moving past convergence. The breadth of the term allows the editors to bring together essays from many disciplines, including rhetoric, phenomenology, feminist studies, and media studies. . . .The editors offer the collection as an opening salvo in a conversation around polymedia, and they suggest that the conversation be continued on social media resources (e.g., Twitter). Summing Up: . . . Graduate students, researchers, faculty. * CHOICE *
Beyond New Media makes a noteworthy contribution to the study of communication and media. It is a conversational, exploratory, and accessible text that offers wise insights into/about contemporary media use. It is an important resource for researchers interested in technology, social media, and interaction, as well as an ideal text to use in courses covering these areas. * Iowa Journal of Communication *
Beyond New Media presents a well-constructed manifesto. . . .The current condition represents a new way of thinking about and acting upon deep philosophical questions, particularly those regarding identity, personhood, compatibility, empathy, and the nature and meaning of reality. The collection provides an impressive start to this daunting task. * Central States Communication Association Newsletter *
Herbig, Herrmann, Tyma, and their colleagues provide a text that reaches through dualistic and reductivist interpretations of new media and into a world of fragmented streams of communication structured by multiple discoursespolymediation. The framework of polymediation provides an overarching perspective to tie together diverse scholarly pursuits. The authors have created a touchstone for both future research and practical applications by providing a deep interrogation of the historical and critical roots of polymedia while maintaining accessibility for the reader. In addition, through the reproduction of mediated conversations between themselves, the authors open up a window into the mundane processes that lead to stimulating theoretical breakthroughs. -- Breanna McEwan, Western Illinois University

Author Bio

Art Herbig is assistant professor of media production at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne. Andrew F. Herrmann is assistant professor of communication studies at East Tennessee State University. Adam W. Tyma is associate professor of critical media studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.