<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The alluring traits of ‘new media’ have spurred new research interests. This article discusses the discourse of ‘new media’ from the vantage point of critically reviewing three emissions from MIT Press during the years 1999-2003 within the series Media in Transition, as to the fundamental concepts used and introduced in these works. It cautions against any reductionist perspective on new media forms, and while highlighting the many merits of writing new media histories, the article shows that this discussion, also nascent within an interdisciplinary Swedish research environment, also carries other important features with implications for the relationships between communication and (time)space. It concludes that it is not enough to acknowledge that ‘new media’ call for a deep awareness of the historicity of the technological imaginary; deeper understandings of transitions in media also call for thoroughly expounding the socio-spatial ramifications of communication.</p></abstract>

The alluring traits of ‘new media’ have spurred new research interests. This article discusses the discourse of ‘new media’ from the vantage point of critically reviewing three emissions from MIT Press during the years 1999-2003 within the series Media in Transition, as to the fundamental concepts used and introduced in these works. It cautions against any reductionist perspective on new media forms, and while highlighting the many merits of writing new media histories, the article shows that this discussion, also nascent within an interdisciplinary Swedish research environment, also carries other important features with implications for the relationships between communication and (time)space. It concludes that it is not enough to acknowledge that ‘new media’ call for a deep awareness of the historicity of the technological imaginary; deeper understandings of transitions in media also call for thoroughly expounding the socio-spatial ramifications of communication.

Transitional Times

Ph.d., Research fellow, The Swedish Institute for North American Studies (SINAS), Department of English, Uppsala University

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

‘New Media’ – Novel Histories and Trajectories

The alluring traits of ‘new media’ have spurred new research interests. This article discusses the discourse of ‘new media’ from the vantage point of...

Transitional Times

Published Online: Feb 07, 2017

Page range: 3 - 17

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0135

Keywords
MIT Press, new media historiography, communication geography, media in transition

© 2009 Amanda Lagerkvist, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Transitional Times

Published Online: Feb 07, 2017

Page range: 3 - 17

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0135

KeywordsMIT Press, new media historiography, communication geography, media in transition

© 2009 Amanda Lagerkvist, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
MIT Press, new media historiography, communication geography, media in transition