Skip to content

Week 6: Texture, Modality, and Everydayness

Mandatory Reading

  • Burgess, J. (2006). Hearing Ordinary Voices: Cultural Studies, Vernacular Creativity and Digital Storytelling. Continuum, 20(2), 201–214. https://doi.org/10.1080/10304310600641737 TikTok_Syllabus
  • Li, J. (2017). The interface affect of a contact zone: Danmaku on video-streaming platforms. Asiascape: Digital Asia, 4(3), 233–256. https://doi.org/10.1163/22142312-12340079
  • Davis, J. L. (2020). How artifacts afford: The power and politics of everyday things. MIT Press.
  • Introduction; Chapter 1; Chapter 2

Further Reading

  • Highfield, T., & Leaver, T. (2016). Instagrammatics and digital methods: Studying visual social media, from selfies and GIFs to memes and emoji. Communication research and practice, 2(1), 47-62.
  • Pettman, D. (2017). Sonic intimacy: Voice, species, technics (or, how to listen to the world). Stanford University Press.
  • Light, B., Burgess, J., & Duguay, S. (2018). The walkthrough method: An approach to the study of apps. New media & society, 20(3), 881-900. TikTok_Syllabus
  • Leaver, T., Highfield, T., & Abidin, C. (2020). Instagram: Visual social media cultures. John Wiley & Sons.

Rationale

Coming from cultural, reception, and audience studies, it is almost imperative to emphasize the everyday. On the other hand, it does feel like discussions on matters related to digital intimacies are constantly doing the "whoa whoa" gesture to avoid the slippery slope of technology determinism. In this sense, one can also consider this module a methodology section. As far as methodology is concerned, I have also considered concentrating on the book How artifacts afford alone. The inclusion of Burgress's (2006) work both makes apparent the ethical considerations of contemplating the everydayness of digital media and provides an interestingly distant moment for students to reflect on. Furthermore, Li's (2017) work provides a case study on how to conceptualize communication in relation to digital interfaces in a transnational context.

However, in terms of "texture" and "modality," I feel that my review of studies related to music and sound particularly needs improvement.