 |
Even emerging forms like video games have the potential to
engage audiences in meaningful ways and contribute to a
contemporary understanding of art and literacy.
|
The reality is that the Internet is not really a new form or an aberration within the spectrum of human interaction--it's just the next phase in a progression of human communication and thought. Writing has served as the dominant form of communication for thousands of years, but it is not the first mode of communication nor the last. Modern, digital paradigms are providing means for integrating a variety of engaging and instructive media resources into writing, and many scholars anticipate the day when such resources will find their place within the broad body of formal academic writing as well. In "Digital Media Studies Futures,"Ben Aslinger and Nina Huntemann suggest that the future will increasingly require writers to bridge disciplinary gaps and rethink literacy to incorporate non-textual formats like video games and film. Sally Pryor offers a similar evaluation of "integrationism" in her article, "Who’s Afraid of Integrationist Signs?" (651). Assessing the historically oral nature of early communication and the visual nature of early writing systems, Pryor suggests that audiovisual and written forms ought to be treated as “complementary facets of one integrated form of communication” (650). In the future it will be harder to define oneself as a scholar of film or writing or music because the concepts are converging, and only those who are able to adapt to these new media formats and writing styles will be in a position to promote the usefulness and relevance of the humanities in our age. We are, in some sense, entering into a new Renaissance, and those who neglect to take advantage of modern forms of digital writing will increasingly find themselves cast into a self-inflicted Dark Age. The world is changing, and with it, scholars and academics must likewise change, adapting to new circumstances and making use of new tools.
