LitWiki - User contributions [en]

Decentering

2005-05-04T21:18:20Z

Hmarney:

The term decentering refers to the over all trend in new media today. With globalization due to world communication barriers being lifted by new media, distinctions between cultures is diminishing. The western hemisphere’s powers are reduced when the communications industries are decentered (Lister 10). No longer is all power in one company or industry. It becomes slowly more an individual’s power.

One of best examples of decentering that has been in the news since the beginning of the 21st century. Through the development of broadband capabilities, many people are downloading music and movies. The Recording Industry Association of America has mad ea campaign to stop this piracy through copyright laws. The courts are currently favoring the RIAA in their decisions. On April 27, 2005, 725 copyright infringement lawsuits against 725 illegal file sharers were issued. [http://www.riaa.com/news/newsletter/042705.asp]

References
Lister, Martin, Jon Dovey, Seth Giddings, Ian Grant and Kieran Kelly. New Media: a critical introduction. New York: Routledge, 2003.

Realism

2005-05-04T18:13:18Z

Hmarney:

Realism [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realism] is generally known as the philosophy of rejection of that which is fantastical and unrealistic for the factual and accurate. It is an attitude that is a part of a philosophy in general and the liberal arts arts.

An “intellectual and artistic movement in 19th-Century [http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~brians/hum_303/naturalism.html]”, it was in rebellion of Romanticism, which was a philosophy where idealism reigned. Novels, painting and music all were greatly influenced by this movement. ''Madame Bovary'' by Gustave Flaubert is a standard Realism novel in both style and content. The main character Emma is a Romantic and much tragedy comes from her trying to live out that philosophy. Americans were not lost on this movement. The paintings of Winslow Homer depicted country scenes; idyllic but still realistic in their content. Édouard Manet from France, the birthplace of the movement, painted everyday street people.

Virtuality

2005-02-14T19:47:30Z

Hmarney:

Virtuality or the simulation of reality is often refered to as virtual reality. Virtual reality is best defined into two different experiences according to New Media: A Critical Introduction. One experience is the 'immersion in an environment constructed with computer graphics and digital video with which the 'user' has some degree of interaction(Lister 35)." This example brings to mind a human strapping on eyewear and a suit that will direct the interaction. This is a complete immersion, with all the physical senses reacting to what is in this "cyberspace." Another form of virtual reality is "the space where participants in online communication feel themselves to be." Such examples of these are MUDS. MUDS, according to Sherry Turkle, "are destinations on the Internet where players who have logged in from computers around the world join an on-line virtual community. Through typed commands, they can converse privately or in large groups, creating and playing characters and even earning and spending imaginary funds in the MUD's virtual economy(Turkle)."

Works cited

Lister, Martin, Jon Dovey, Seth Giddings, and Iain Grant. New Media: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge, 2003.

Turkle, Sherry. "Virtuality and Its Discontents," The American Prospect vol. 7 no. 24, December 1, 1996.http://www.prospect.org/print/V7/24/turkle-s.html