0.
guide 1.
introduction 2.
method as field of discussion
3. practice
4. theory
5. conclusion and further discussions
| 4.
theory |
4.1 the dialectic of “reading” and “writing” Media Education 4.2 the novelty and distinctiveness of digital media forms Digital Media Research |
4.3 multimodal digital media and visualised culture A matter of method? 4.3.1 New critical moves towards visualised culture 4.3.2 Visualisation driven further by digitalisation 4.3.3 Multimodal Culture 4.3.4 Practice based confrontation of language-based tools in Proximal 4.3.5 Evolving preference of display and multimodality. A matter of method? 4.3.6 Recap Chapter 4. Preparing for final section 4.4 Based on the preceding sections in this chapter, it seems reasonable and perhaps even fairly prevalent to assume that there is a positive relation between practice and theory, between innovative artifact production and reflective practice. The last section in this chapter is addressing the second research question put forward in this thesis, a question much interlinked with the overall question of how practice-based method may be said to inform studies of digital media: How may the interplay and positive relation between practice and theory be conceptualised? Refering to the previous sections, the dynamic interaction between practice and theory may be conceptualised from a media education-perspective as a dialectic process of translation between “language modes” - between “writing” and “reading”, media making and analysing media, in which conceptual knowledge is acquired through a process of theoretical reflection upon practice (Buckingham et al. 1995). From a more interdisciplinary perspective emphasising the compatibility between methods of humanities and science aiming to inform both research designs of humanities and studies of digital media in particular, the interaction between practice and theory may be perceived as translations between “synthesis” and “analysis”, acknowledging the implicit concepts (and theories) of practical construction, as well as the latent constructive potential of theory (Liestøl 2001, 2003). A closely related way to conceptualise the dynamic of practice and theory is to consider it a “two-way shuttle of insights between theorising and experimenting” (Liestøl et al. 2003), emphasising, in my view, the innovative and explorative potential of practice-based-method. Finally, at least what is of concerns in the prior sections, what might be termed “embodied cultural theory” (Hocks & Kendrik 2003:5) may stretch notions of translation towards embodiment or personification. In Bolter´s terms; rather than over against the artifacts, theory or critique may speak through the artifacts themselves (2003a:28). Situated within so called embodied cultural theory, Bolter tries not only to see the positive relation between practice and theory when trying to get at multimodal digital media forms. He also abandon claims of theory being valuated above or placed outside of practice. This review responds to my second research question of how the interplay between theory and practice may be conceptualised, but only partly. Changed modes of inquiry in what might be termed post-critical humanities hold in my view formal implications that may not be fully accounted for by the mentioned perceptions of practice-based method. These formal implications are located on a more practical level, ascending when trying to write a practice-based thesis. How my our practice and practice-based knowledge be articulated and applied in a practice-based thesis within the humanities? How may we merge practical and critical inquiry? How may we rethink the hermeneutic whole-detail-whole approach in which the object is considered autonomous wholes? (e.g. Bal 2003). How may we demystify the relation between media-practice and media-theory, in practice? It is these latter issues that will be considered in the following and last section in this chapter “Artifacts of expression and expressive artefacts. Exploring theory through practice”. |
4.4 “artifacts of expression” and “expressive artifacts” Exploring theory through practice |
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Practice-based Method. Exploring Digital Media through
the Dynamics of Practice, Theory, and Collaborative, Multimedia Performance
Hovedoppgave i mediavitenskap for cand.filol
graden, Universitetet i Oslo, Institutt for medier og kommunikasjon, Mai
2006, Idunn Sem
