Construction kit for a theory of the media
The construction kit for a theory of media is a socialist media theory by Hans Magnus Enzensberger . The media kit builds on the criticism of the culture industry by the Frankfurt School , but at the same time stands in the emancipatory tradition of Bertolt Brecht's radio theory . The media kit was first published in 1970 in the Kursbuch magazine published by Enzensberger .
central message
The starting point is the criticism of the modern “ culture industry ” formulated by Horkheimer and Adorno in the Dialectic of Enlightenment ( 1947 ) , which Enzensberger continues under the term “consciousness industry”: “With the development of electronic media, the consciousness industry has set the pace socio-economic development of late industrial societies. "
Enzensberger's understanding of the consciousness industry is dialectical . He sees both restrictive and liberating elements in it. On the one hand, the electronic media in modern society take on more and more “steering and control functions”, on the other hand, their technical structure breaks through previous restrictions. The dimensions of the communication content as well as the variety of communication channels undermine the possibilities of censorship. Since electronic media make information freely reproducible and generally accessible, they also break through social barriers: "The structure of the new media is egalitarian" (Kursbuch 20/1970: 167)
The abolition of the separation between consumers and producers is of central importance for Enzensberger's media theory. Enzensberger formulates with reference to Bertolt Brecht's radio theory : “Electronic technology knows no fundamental contradiction between transmitter and receiver. According to its construction principle, every transistor radio is also a potential transmitter. "(Kursbuch 20/1970: 160) In" repressive media use ", however, according to Enzensberger, there is a centrally controlled program with one transmitter and many receivers that passivates and depoliticizes consumers:
“In today's form, devices like television or film are therefore not used for communication, but for prevention. They do not allow any interaction between sender and receiver: technically speaking, they reduce the feedback to the minimum theoretically possible. "
In contrast, an “emancipatory use of the media” turns every recipient into a sender. This is where Enzensberger's criticism of the left's understanding of media up to now comes in, which see cinema , radio and television primarily as an instrument of manipulation that is influential against the proletariat . This goes hand in hand with clinging to books and magazines , i.e. a "media situation that roughly corresponds to the state of 1900": "The manipulation thesis of the left is essentially defensive, its effects can lead to defeatism." (Course book 20 / 1970: 163) Enzensberger does not understand media devices as pure means of consumption : "In principle, they are always also means of production , and since they are in the hands of the masses, socialized means of production." (Kursbuch 20/1970: 168)
Similar to Brecht, however, Enzensberger makes the restriction that the mass media do not develop their full potential in the capitalist form of organization: “Only a free socialist society will be able to make it productive.” Nevertheless, there is no reason for the left to rely on the existing form of society To forego media opportunities that are already available in order to create new forms of the public : “Tape recorders, video and cine cameras are already widely owned by wage earners. The question must be asked why these means of production do not appear en masse [...] in all social conflict situations. "(Kursbuch 20/1970: 170) Enzensberger calls for the" aggressive "as well as conscious access to the new media:
“There is no such thing as unmanipulated writing, filming and broadcasting. The question is therefore not whether the media are being manipulated or not, but who is manipulating them. A revolutionary scheme does not have to make the manipulators disappear; on the contrary, he has to make everyone a manipulator. "
The political activists should not only adopt media use, but also organizational forms of the metropolitan subcultures , e.g. B. "Network-like communication models that are built on the principle of interaction: a mass newspaper that is written and distributed by its readers, a video network of politically active groups, etc." (Kursbuch 20/1970: 170)
It is not for nothing that the network concept is reminiscent of the organizational structure of the Internet . The so-called “network of networks” has eliminated the sharp separation between sender and receiver from the start. For Enzensberger, the abolition of this separation is the general condition of the modern media world. The network idea, on the other hand, had a much more specific function in the early 1970s. A structural problem of socialist movements has to be overcome: the “dialectic of discipline and spontaneity, centralism and decentralization, authoritarian leadership and anti- authoritarian disintegration” (Kursbuch 20/1970: 170).
In Spiegel 2/2000, Enzensberger was critical of the media-theoretical considerations he expressed in 1970:
“Probably spoken at a time when there was still no talk of the Internet. But the author's attempt to overtake media practice led to all sorts of expectations that today seem naive. In contrast to the old media, utopian possibilities were ascribed to the imaginary web of the future; his emancipatory potency was beyond question for the poet. In keeping with Marxist theory, he harbored unlimited confidence in the famous "development of the productive forces", a materialistic variant of the Christian triad of faith, love and hope. Today only the evangelists of digital capitalism would swear by such promises. Perhaps 30 years later a certain sobriety is advisable. "
literature
- Hans Magnus Enzensberger : Construction kit for a theory of the media . In: Kursbuch 20, pp. 159-186, 1970
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hans Magnus Enzensberger: The digital gospel , published in: Der Spiegel 2/2000