Comparative textual media : transforming the humanities in the postprint era /

One major premise behind this collection is that current interest in "new media" is misguided, based both on the notion that there is an "old media" that is out-of-date and uninteresting and that what seems new today is not always already in the process of being superseded. Hayles (Duke Univ.) and Pressman (visiting scholar, Univ. of California, San Diego) suggest that study of media--or, more specifically, textual media--should take a comparative approach in order to understand how formats and contexts shape texts and their reception. To this end, they have gathered essays attentive to a wide range of textual forms, from text messages displayed on video screens in public spaces to medieval manuscripts, in order to study the relationship between texts and their formats, digital or otherwise. Though the editors present this comparative approach to "old" and emerging media forms as a revolutionary way to examine texts and media--even arguing that academic departments should be reorganized around this approach--many in the field of book history will find it less surprising. Nevertheless, this volume makes an important contribution to conversations about textual studies, media, and the digital. --Sigrid Anderson Cordell, University of Michigan Graduate Library