I was particularly interested in our discussion about new media as a process rather than a product, and as ideologically based rather than technologically based. Alex mentioned that new media comes from oral cultures that use stories and storytelling, like Aboriginal tradition. This form of communication is more diverse and fosters equality instead of hierarchy. This interpretation is very refreshing, because I often become stuck on the technology of new media and I know a lot of people do.
In another class we discussed the notion of being suspended in language, that all thoughts are eternal, and that the air is one vast library. We also discussed the idea that once a word is spoken it exists forever. We talked about Salmon Rushdie’s book Haroun and the Sea of Stories. Rushdie writes about an ocean filled with many streams of stories, the biggest library in the universe, containing all the stories that have ever been told…in fluid form, “ ‘From the great Story Sea,’ he’d reply. ‘I drink the warm Story Waters and then I feel full of steam.’ ” (17). We are all swimming in an ocean of stories. There are streams that make up this ocean, the streams of community, culture and the individual. Rushdie’s book is about how tales are woven together to create links, imposing an understanding through narrative. I think this relates directly to new media.
In another class I also looked at Marwan M. Kraidy’s book Hybridity, or the Cultural Logic of Globalization (2005). He explores the concept of hybridity and the problems that it encompasses, “Hybridity is a risky notion. It comes without guarantees. Rather than a single idea or unitary concept, hybridity is an association of ideas, concepts, and themes that at once reinforce and contradict each other” (Kraidy vi preface). Hybridity, in its most basic sense refers to mixture. The term originates from biology and was then used in linguistics and racial theory in the nineteenth century. Its contemporary uses are numerous within academic disciplines and popular culture. The history of hybridity relates to major theoretical discussions with the discourses of race, post-colonialism, identity, anti-racism, multiculturalism and globalization. This book illustrates the development of the rhetoric of hybridity from biological to cultural discussions. Kraidy discusses hybridity in relation to international communication, cultural globalization and critical transculturation (cultural change induced by introduction of elements of a foreign culture), as well as the media. Kraidy believes that identity and memory play a huge role in hybridity, “Collective memory, more than official recorded history, plays a crucial role in shaping the self-image of nations and communities” (Kraidy 125). He explores the concepts of syncretism (in a basic sense is a fusion of divergent ideas, mostly religion), as well as other terms that relate to different cultures and the way they are represented. Kraidy is critiquing the effective use of the language of this term, and attempts to redefine notions of culture and culture relations. New media is hybridity.
My thesis is about different people’s stories, different perspectives and viewpoints. The practice and significance of documentary is changing. Documentaries are becoming more interpretive and reflexive. Audiences are continually developing more sophisticated visual languages. Engaging audiences to think beyond the confines of the image is important in stimulating reactions and achieving a successful documentary. I would like my thesis project to have aspects of adapting, partaking and contributing. I want to play with narrative relationships.
