Audiovisuality of the Third Degree: Reality or Fantasy?

Abstract

The starting point for my reflections concerning contemporary cultural paradigms is category of mimesis indicating one of the most important qualities of audiovisuality which is copying—thanks to image and sound techniques—reality. While characterizing transformation of mimesis, I enumerate three categories of audiovisuality: first step audiovisuality, which is copying based on film conventions oscillating between reproduction and creation, second step audiovisuality, which is copying based on television conventions oscillating between direct broadcast and staging reality, and third step audiovisuality, which is copying based on multimedial virtualisations oscillating between different forms of immersion and signallized simulation of artificial “realities”. First and second step audiovisualities create numerous relations and easily interpenetrate. Their relations are shaped mainly by conventions of various games which increasingly replace previous social rules, especially ethical and communicational. Referring to the latest philosophical conceptions of culture and to philosophy of media, I try to prove two theses. Firstly, third step audiovisuality reshapes first and second step audiovisuality makes them more dynamic and replaces them to the same extend to which centres of contemporary power may discipline consumers/prosumers—users of new media by the means of so-called pleasant disorientation. Secondly, development of third step audiovisuality is directly connected with tendencies to move various aspects and forms of life of an individual and a group from real space to virtual space.

A slightly modified version of the text has been already published in German: Audiovisualität der dritten Stufe—Wirklichkeit oder Phantastik? In: Gerhard Banse, Annely Rothkegel (Hg.), Neue Medien: Interdependenzen von Technik, Kultur und Kommunikation, Trafo Verlagsgruppe Dr. Wolfgang Weist, Berlin: 2014, S. 45–52.