DIGITAL PLENITUDE
  • Home
  • Chapters
    • Introduction
    • 1. The Great Divide
    • 2. Popular Modernism
    • 3. DIchotomies
    • 4. Catharsis
    • 5. Flow
    • 6. Remix
    • 7. Procedurality
    • 8. Social Media
    • Conclusion
    • References
  • Additional texts
    • Books in the Plenitude
  • About
  • Comments

Chapters 

Jay David Bolter, The Digital Plenitude: The Decline of Elite Culture and the Rise of New Media (MIT Press, 2019).  

For each chapter there is a web page with links to materials that I couldn't put in the printed version, especially videos of film trailers and excerpts as well as Ted talks by some of the people whose work and ideas illustrate our media culture today.
Introduction
This chapter describes the digital plenitude and gives an overview of the book as whole. 

Chapter 1: The Great Divide
The divide was between elite and popular culture.

Chapter 2: Popular Modernism
How elite culture became popular (Marshall McLuhan, John Lennon, and Steve Jobs).

Chapter 3: Dichotomies
Some ways of thinking about our media plenitude.

Chapter 4: Catharsis
Catharsis is the "old" media aesthetic: from Casablanca to Avatar and some videos games.

Chapter 5: Flow
Flow is the "new" media aesthetic: Facebook, YouTube, and most video games.

Chapter 6: Remix and Originality
Hip hop and other forms of remix redefine originality (out of existence?).

Chapter 7: Procedurality, History, and Simulation
Machine-like thinking: from Chaplin's Modern Times to FitBit.

Chapter 8:  Social Media and the Politics of Flow

Social media, identity, and politics (and of course Donald Trump).

Conclusion
The politics of flow might change everything.

References
All the linked references in the book

This site is a companion to The Digital Plenitude: The Decline of Elite Culture and the Rise of New Media (MIT Press, 2019).  

Contact Jay David Bolter at jdbolter@icloud.com
  • Home
  • Chapters
    • Introduction
    • 1. The Great Divide
    • 2. Popular Modernism
    • 3. DIchotomies
    • 4. Catharsis
    • 5. Flow
    • 6. Remix
    • 7. Procedurality
    • 8. Social Media
    • Conclusion
    • References
  • Additional texts
    • Books in the Plenitude
  • About
  • Comments