<研究ノート>情報化と身体の変容 : 身体的メディア・リテラシーに向けて

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to examine the disturbance of bodily senses brought about by bilateral electronic media networks such as the Internet. Secondly, to introduce "bodily media literacy", a faculty that enables us to create a productive relationship between media and the bodily senses. In the 1960s, Marshall McLuhan had pointed out that electronic media transforms the sense ratio of humans. According to McLuhan, the tribal man who had lived in oral cultures had a balanced acoustic/visual sense ratio, but the invention of the phonetic alphabet and the printing press destroyed it. However, we will experience a return to the tribal man, since electronic media could be programmed to provide a balanced integration of the senses. McLuhan's optimistic prediction has lost its appeal mainly because of the rising importance of bilateral networks such as the Internet, whereas McLuhan dealt mainly with unilateral networks such as television. Bilateral networks are programmend not by a single subject, but by numerous subjects each pursuing their own interest. As Toru Nishigaki points out, electronic media is most suited for the pursuit of capitalist intersts, since it enables the constant differentiation of image commodities at a low cost. Such ever-changing images inevitably have a disturbing effect on the bodily senses of the consumer. From Nishigaki's viewpoint of image differentiaion cost, it could be said that every kind of media has the tendency to disturb the bodily senses more or less, compared to direct experience. In order to investigate the possibility of a more productive relationship between media in general and the bodily senses, this paper examines a martial art class located in Kyoto City, the "S" School (name withheld), of which the author has been performing fieldwork for 3 years. In S School, various media including oral advice, memos, photos, digital movies, Internet sites and e-mails play a vital roles in acquiring the necessary bodily senses to perform a technique. Each student actively relates the information scattered across various media to one another, creating invisible networks that collectively "show" the proper integration of bodily senses. Repeatedly calling up and referring to this network during practice enables the students to reorganize their bodily senses into a new configuration. This faculty could be called "bodily media literacy". Admittedly, the general media situation in our society differs from that seen in S School, namely in terms of disembodiment and anonymity. Nevertheless, the analysis of S School has provided us with an ideal type useful in overcoming the current media situation.