Some thoughts again about my personal Project of Research
1. Texts between Medium, media and Multimedia.
My work started with a thesis centred on Multimedia Texts.
Prof. Petoefi assigned to me the task of trying to do a typology of multimedia texts that were in some way able to describe the Multimediality of such texts.
That means that my work should had to analyse such texts as textual whole, and not on the contrary as texts made by a sum of verbal plus non-verbal systems, as most of the textual analysts actually do.
Yet the great problem was the theoretical base, inasmuch most of the models of communication are influenced by a mono-medial perspective (i.e. they fit very well only in the case of the presence of a single medium, and at its higher degree with the verbal one).
I disposed naturally of the textologic model of Petoefi, which is really a good one for te analysis of verbale written texts having other medial elements such as pictures for example.
Yet the multimediality from a general point of view seemed to me to be something more of this specific case, but I had only this specific model as a starting point.
Therefore I studied the communication models and I recognised in the notion of information one of the greatest problem for a multimedia analysis, as well as it is a problem the general tendence to divide the ambit of communication from that of signification on a theoretical level. A division that seems to me to be a hard dichotomy within media studies as well as within semiotics and communication theory.
After having analysed also the semiotic models in order to verify whether such problems were also present within semiotics (and yes, they are), I worked out a complex typology of multimedia texts based partially upon Petoefi's textologic model and partially upon a new model of communication and media which I developed personally (You can find a brief description of it appearing nextly in Inkinen Sam, Mediapolis, De Gruyter, forthcoming book).
2. From the typology of Multimedia text towards the outline of an integrated theory of communication.
My work on Multimedia texts showed that there are some basic problem within communication and media studies (as well as within semiotics) which are depending from basic philosophical assumption about the kowing relationship. That is why I accepted the Ph.D. programm offered to me by Prof. Petoefi as a good possibility to develop and to deepen such an analysis on a philosophical base.
In my Ph.D. work, which I'm really near to complete, I do a strict comparison of the basic concepts, which are at the ground of the semiotic and communicative models of communication, signs and media, with the subject/object relationships, by analysing the work of Cassirer, Husserl, Wittgenstein and Apel.
Thus I had the possibility to check also the validity of the assumptions of the linguistic turn of philosophy to be a changing of paradigm in the ambit of western thinking
Then, I have perfectioned my model of communication taking care of the indications that such a comparison gave to me, and I'm going to discuss my Ph.D. work.
3. Towards an analysis of Mass Media Communication and Multimedia
The next step will be the application of my model in the explanation and description of Mass Media Communication (Films, TV) and ts relation with the new technologies of Multimedia (computer mediated communication and Internet).
Unfortunately I actually have no financial assistance for such a project, since the University of Macerata rejected (with ridicolous excusations) a project presented by Prof. Petoefi that would have followed such a direction of research by constituting a good team at the new Dpt. of Communication in Macerata.
Well, against the italian Baroni there is not too much to do!
The future.
Thus I hope now to find a way to continue in working and in mantaining this site. Anyway it will surely go on until December (since I payed till that date). After that: Quien sabes?
In any case I thank all the people that have sent to me their ideas, compliments and/or critics, and above all:
Pascal Michelucci, Martin Ryder, Gregor Bertrand Lee, Hartmut Schroeder, Sam Inkinen, Werner Konitzer, Agnieska Cieplinska, Sergio Valverde, Lubica Ucnik, Gary MacLennan, Helio Godoy, Julia C. Rice, Daniel Frampton, Stephen Gilbert, Sean Cubitt, Michael Chanan, Luciano Floridi, Gennaro Carotenuto, Francesco Orilia, Toricht Schildtrager
and the many students who wrote me to ask suggestions, help and/or just to express their appreciation for my site.
Many thanks again,
Your
Paolo Teobaldelli raven@megi.it
Cessapalombo estate, Italy, 23/07/1998