An Analysis of Critical Terms for Media Studies

Chapter 5, "Memory," begins with an introduction by Duke University literature professor Mark B. N. Hansen in which he explains the central claim of the chapter: "The Internet age is one of hypomnesis constituting itself as an associated technical milieu" (qt. in Hansen 64). Hansen first defines "hypomnesis," a term borrowed from Plato, as "the technical exteriorization of memory" (Hansen 64). He also explains how technology has evolved since its beginning to include and enhance memory. In short, we are living in an age where the ability of technology to function as an external part of our memory plays an essential role in the overall tech-heavy society. While these technologies can be helpful, they can also manipulate their users.

The chapter itself is written by French philosopher Bernard Stiegler who begins with his own definition of "hypomnesis" as "recollection through externalized memory" (Stiegler 67). This definition includes not only advanced technology but also something as simple as writing down a reminder on a piece of paper. He differentiates between the two with the terms "mnemotechniques," individual exteriorizations of memory functions, and "mnemotechnologies," large-scale technological systems or networks that organize memories (Stiegler 67). He explains that the impact of these exteriorizations is that losing the device on which the memory was stored is not only to lose the memory but also to realize that memory only existed in the apparatus itself, not in the mind.

He goes on to examine the dangers of the hyperindustrialization of these mnemotechnologies as large companies gain control of the very devices that hold so much of the human memory. Also, by their very existence, they take a piece of our own memory and abilities. For example, the more that cars are improved, the less we will know how to drive (Stiegler 68). The deep roots of memory and knowledge in the history of the process of grammatization clearly raises the question about the biopolitics of memory. (Stiegler 70).

Stiegler defines "grammatization" as "the process whereby the currents and continuities shaping our lives become discrete elements" (Stiegler 70). The rise of mnemotechnics has shifted the history of grammatization to a very technical process. This process threatens society as it could lead to a point when all forms of knowledge are dramatized in mnemotechnologies (Stiegler 71). This view reinforces the high stakes that surround the science in technics.

Stiegler then moves into a conversation of human memory as Epiphylogenesis--that is, human memory as something that functions "by means other than life" (Hansen 65). He compares and contrasts the technical hypomnesis with the human anamnesis, "the embodied act of remembering" (Hansen 64). Even though Plato believed these two ideas to be in direct opposition, Stiegler points out that epiphylogenetic memory can be both. As humans became more complex, so did their memories. The process of grammatization that began with the Industrial Revolution has been exponentially increasing with emerging technologies today. 

Even though not all of these technologies are designed to store memory, they all helped lead to the technology solely designed to store memory: writing. Writing, "the alphabetic organization of access to memory," allows us not only to store our own memories but to access others' memories as well (Stiegler 75). Writing quickly developed into books, which necessitated the use of catalogues, libraries, bibliographies, and indexes. Just as writing allows access to a writer's memory, so does a sound recording or a photograph. These analog devices shifted to digital, and today's world is consumed with digital apparatuses of all kinds, all working to store memory in one for form or another.

This shift to digital means that those who control the digital store of information greatly affect the memory and thought process of society. From the way certain news events are covered to the speed at which that coverage is delivered, people experience and remember the world around them differently than ever before. They can witness events almost as they happened in a voyeuristic way. That gives way to a hierarchy of information; what is being covered or talked about right now is the most important. The relationship between life and media has shifted so that media seems "not only to anticipate but...to determine life itself" (Stiegler 81).

Another key way memory has shifted, Stiegler concludes, occurs in the way messages are transmitted and received. With literature, the person doing the writing has presumably studied and leader how to do so, as has the receiver, who "decodes" the message. With analog and digital technologies, however, "sender and receiver no longer coincide with encoder and decoder" (Stiegler 81). The camera "writes" the footage and the computer "reads" the file. At the same time, these modern technologies allow users to associate closely with their milieu. We must think about this new age as the web of relationships in an interactive and engaging environment that gives us a great capacity to receive and store memories.

Works Cited:

Hansen, Mark B. N. "Introduction to Chapter 5: Memory" Critical Terms for Media Studies. Ed. W. J. T. Mitchell and Mark B. N. Hansen. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2010. 64-66. Print.

Stiegler, Bernard. "Chapter 5: Memory." Critical Terms for Media Studies. Ed. W. J. T. Mitchell and Mark B. N. Hansen. Chicago: U of Chicago, 2010. 66-87. Print.