Opening the Media-Ecological Black Box of Latour

Yoni Van Den Eede

Abstract

Sociologist and anthropologist Bruno Latour's work is almost never mentioned in media-ecological contexts, but considering the aim, style, and scope of his work, he can definitely be seen as a media ecologist pur sang. Moreover, he shares some essential premises with McLuhan. His notions of 'actant' or 'hybrid,' 'mediator,' 'black box,' and 'translation,' for instance, all find counterparts in "common" media-ecological vocabulary. His advice to 'follow the actors,' detective style, can be likened to McLuhan's sleuth-like probing "method." And they both make a similar cultural critique. Yet above and beyond these correspondences, some crucial divergences remain, among others with regard to the concepts of time and change. In this paper we endeavor to outline the similarities and differences; which will eventually lead us to a reflection on the "uniqueness" of the discipline of media ecology.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	The Thirteenth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association - "The Crossroads of the Word"
Publisher	The Media Ecology Association (MEA)
Publication status	Published - 9 Jun 2012
Event	Unknown - Duration: 9 Jun 2012 → …

Publication series

Name	The Thirteenth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association - "The Crossroads of the Word"

Conference

Conference	Unknown
Period	9/06/12 → …

Keywords

Media Ecology
Bruno Latour

Handle.net

Persistent link

Cite this

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Opening the Media-Ecological Black Box of Latour. / Van Den Eede, Yoni.
The Thirteenth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association - "The Crossroads of the Word". The Media Ecology Association (MEA), 2012. (The Thirteenth Annual Convention of the Media Ecology Association - "The Crossroads of the Word").

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Meeting abstract (Book)

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AB - Sociologist and anthropologist Bruno Latour's work is almost never mentioned in media-ecological contexts, but considering the aim, style, and scope of his work, he can definitely be seen as a media ecologist pur sang. Moreover, he shares some essential premises with McLuhan. His notions of 'actant' or 'hybrid,' 'mediator,' 'black box,' and 'translation,' for instance, all find counterparts in "common" media-ecological vocabulary. His advice to 'follow the actors,' detective style, can be likened to McLuhan's sleuth-like probing "method." And they both make a similar cultural critique. Yet above and beyond these correspondences, some crucial divergences remain, among others with regard to the concepts of time and change. In this paper we endeavor to outline the similarities and differences; which will eventually lead us to a reflection on the "uniqueness" of the discipline of media ecology.

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PB - The Media Ecology Association (MEA)

T2 - Unknown

Y2 - 9 June 2012

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