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New Media Theory: How To

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How To Read New Media Theory

• Reading new media theory is hard. Accordingly, I have a number of tips and strategies that should help

• These include the following:– General Tips– Tips for when you first begin– Three steps to mastery

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General Tips for Reading Theory

• Comprehension and retention are the hardest parts. Adjust your strategies accordingly

• Read slowly (budget 15 pages per hour)• Write all over the text (underline, summarize

author’s main claims for easy access later)• Focus on the primary argument (know where

you are within a long chapter)• Resist the impulse to let your eyes glaze over• Acknowledge the fact that you won’t understand

or recall everything (but do your best to do so all the same)

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As You Begin a New Book or Article

• Begin by answering the basics:– What is the point of the book?

• Be specific, concise, and faithful to what the author says (not your own interpretation or why you think the book is relevant to you)

• Identify the main problem (or problems) the author is claiming to address

– How will the author(s) answer these questions?• What is her/his/their methodology?

• Always read the Intro/Preface!• For those of you going onto the Ph.D., the skills

on this screen will be absolutely critical to your success

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Exercise: Reading Johnson’s Preface

• Break into your groups. Take 5 minutes to review the Preface, and be prepared to answer the following questions.

1. What, according to the Preface, is the point of this book (including the main problem[s] he is trying to solve)?

2. What is Johnson’s methodology?

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Exercise: Reading Johnson’s Preface

• What, according to the Preface, is the point of this book?– “Read” interfaces as artifacts of culture– Avoid both techno-boosterism and technophobia– To make connections between interfaces and other

cultural artifacts• What is his methodology?

– To bring together the following:• Technical explanations• Historical narratives• Cultural analogies

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The Authors Claims are the Reason for Reading the Book/Article

• As you read, identify the author’s claims. A claim...– Can be grammatically paraphrased as a statement– Constitutes a non-obvious insight– Potentially changes how we view a subject– Usually makes up the structural backbone of the

book/article, as a given claim is defended and then used to segue to the next claim

– Is more than a topic: it is a statement (subject + predicate) about a topic

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Where is the only serious claim in the following quote?

“In recent years, critical theory has been a provocative source of thought about the interplay of art, media, science, and technology. Each of the major sections of this book presents pertinent examples of this analysis. However, in its rush to deconstruct scientific research and technological innovation as the manifestation of metanarratives, critical theory leaves little room for the appearance of genuine innovation or the creation of new possibilities. While it has become predominant in the arts, it is not so well accepted in the worlds of science and technology. This chapter analyzes the special problems that this disjunction poses for techno-scientifically influenced artists and examines various stances that artists can take in working with research.”

-- Stephen Wilson, Information Arts

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Where is the only serious claim in the following quote?

“In recent years, critical theory has been a provocative source of thought about the interplay of art, media, science, and technology. Each of the major sections of this book presents pertinent examples of this analysis. However, in its rush to deconstruct scientific research and technological innovation as the manifestation of metanarratives, critical theory leaves little room for the appearance of genuine innovation or the creation of new possibilities. While it has become predominant in the arts, it is not so well accepted in the worlds of science and technology. This chapter analyzes the special problems that this disjunction poses for techno-scientifically influenced artists and examines various stances that artists can take in working with research.”

-- Stephen Wilson, Information Arts

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Three Steps to Mastery of a Theoretical Work

• Comprehension

• Application

• Critique

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1. Comprehension

• Theory is harder than other texts, so work explicitly at just understanding what is being said (don’t take it for granted)

• To do it, follow the claims

• Claims typically appear most explicitly near the beginning (theses) and endings (conclusions) of sections

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2. Application

• Apply the author’s theory to elements of your own experience

• Game: what would Author A have to say about Object O?

• You don’t need to write a paper or construct a project to do this—just pause a moment and do it in your head as you read

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Exercise: Application of Johnson’s Theory

• Break into your groups and take 5 minutes to complete the following exercise:

• Johnson says (p.3) that Joyce (20th century) wrote “software” (innovative novels) for Gutenberg’s (15th century) technology (the printing press); both men, according to Johnson, were both artists and engineers. Identify another individual (not necessarily by name: “the person who XYZ” would suffice) whose engineering creativity enabled a later individual to create a work of technical mastery.

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3. Critique

• What does the theory fail to account for?

• What are the limits of the theory?

• Who benefits from this theory?

• What are its unstated assumptions? Are these assumptions reasonable?

• How can the theory be adapted to solve a different kind of problem than the one for which it was originally intended?