Changing media require a change in theory

Check out this blog post from Publishing 2.0 blogger Scott Karp:
"The evolution from linear thought to networked thought"
http://publishing2.com/2008/02/09/the-evolution-from-linear-thought-to-networked-thought/

Karp asks:
What if the networked nature of content on the web has changed not just how I consume information but how I process it?

What if I no longer have the patience to read a book because it’s too…. linear.

Wysocki pushes us to asssess "how our materials have acquired the constraints they have and hence why, often, certain materials and designs are not considered available for certain uses" (p. 56). She continues by noting the ambiguity of her text's title, "Did you read  my title as 'a way with words' or 'away with words'? The potential ambiguity, I think, shows how a particular visual space has become natural to how we now read" (p. 56). She argues that we need to notice how "we use space on pages affects how we read and understand" (p. 57). In addition, Wysocki notes the pedagogical importance of asking such questions: "If we are to help people in our classes learn how to compose texts that function as they hope, they need [sic] consider how they use the spaces and not just one time that can be shaped on pages. The also need to question how they have come to understand the spaces of pages so that they can, if need be, use different spaces, potentially powerful spaces that...have been rendered unavailable by naturalized, unquestioned practices" (p. 57). 

Wysocki's arguemnt brings to mind Kress' discussion of the power of design. Kress argues, "one effect of the social and the representational changes, practices of writing and reading have changed and are changing...Reading has to be rethought given that the commonsense of what reading is was developed in the era of the unquestioned dominance of writing, in constellation with the unquestioned dominance of the medium of the book" (p. 17).  In order to remedy this rather disjointed relationship (new media texts and traditional theories of reading, and others...), Kress argues that we "cannot continue with existing theories of meaning given the facts of the changes in the social, economic and cultural domain. At the moment, our theories come from the era dominated by notions of conventions and competence, whereas we need theories apt for an era of radical instability" (p. 20). Kress then argues that we need to include design as a conceptual element to a new theory of reading, writing, etc. 

To connect Wysocki and Kress with Karp's comment at the beginning of this post, let's consider a few things:

1) Karp's questions and concerns (detailed in his entire blog post) provide a good example of the problems that arise from the application of "old" theory to "new" [media] texts. He's assuming all reading is linear, and this causes problems when "reading" new media texts (specifically online). 

a) When considering this in context with Kress' argument, interesting things arise: again, we can't continue to apply traditional theory to new and rapidly changing technologies and ways of making meaning. This seems similar to an attempt at applying 15th-century physics to explain dark matter: gaps and problems arise. Not to mention that a Stargate episode would be radically different if they relied on 15th-century physics to explain an "outgoing wormhole" (nerds will understand me here). 

This isn't to say that we need to throw out past theories of reading and learning, but I do think we need to make an effort to constantly assess the relevance of such theories in a new media context. And, I do not think that such theories are always applicable to traditional print texts either. Any multimodal text (as opposed to the King James Version of the Bible or text- only versions of the Wall Street Journal) probably requires different types of reading skills, but it seems easy for many people to assume (i.e. Karp) that reading is completely linear and has "evolved" only in relation to linear print texts. 

2) Both Kress and Wysocki seem to argue for this reconsideration of theory in context with new media texts. Wysocki specifically addresses the pedagogical applications of this (p. 57), while Kress emphasizes the importance of design. 

a) A consideration of design as a theoretical concept addresses the problems noted here. Wysocki's use of "spaces" should be a rhetorical concept applied in these new theories, as it points to much of what makes meaning in multimodal texts. Spaces between words, letters, images, pages, sounds, etc. should be used with rhetorical purpose in mind. Silence, emptiness, proximity, etc. are all powerful tools with which to make meaning, and thus fit into Kress' idea of design. 

My point is that we need to seriously rethink our application/creation of theory with respect to the textual context at hand.