Lily Díaz & Magda Dragu & Leena Eilittä (Eds.)
Adaptation and Convergence of Media
100404
The perspective of this book is that intermedia is a
gathering of combinatorial possibilities and hybridity leading to heterogeneity
and complexity. The volume is not another academic compilation but rather a
collection of carefully selected and peer-reviewed articles. Rather than
arguing for an impending disappearance of traditional media, the book embraces contemporary
plurality of media forms, advocating a more comprehensive approach that includes
a proposal for a theory of ‘High’ and ‘Low’ culture intermediality.
Many
of the authors are creative media practitioners. Their work gives the reader a
look at contemporary media landscape providing relevant social and cultural commentary
to a variety of media genres. For example, Hollywood films such as Bar Luhman’s
The Great Gatsby and Adam McKays’ The Big Short are brought into
discussion in the context of contemporary politics and media. The ecological
debate and issues of hybridity are scrutinized through the lens of Isabella
Rossellini’s Green Porno Youtube
series. C.S. Lewis, Pavel Hošel and Frederick Jameson’s
perspectives of social utopia and ideology enables a critical discussion of
popular youth media in Eastern Europe.
Among the works we also encounter theoretical essays
exploring multiple historical origins and possible media futures. The craft of
weaving, issues of gender and oral poetry are brought into a metaphorical
relation through an examination of the Finnish Kalevala tradition. From a critical perspective, diverse origins
and possible paths of development of the intermedia traditions are examined.
Further on, the notion of intermedia as liminal interface design space is
elaborated from the perspective of Interactive
Diorama – Rembrandt, 1632
and Rediscovery of Anima, two works
showcased at the 2017 Ars Electronica Festival in Austria.
The book is edited by Lily Díaz, Magda Dragu & Leena Eilittä.