The Prospects of Memory in a Digital Age. (Under the Direction of Dr. Victoria J
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ABSTRACT KALIN, JASON PATRICK. Reanimating Memory: The Prospects of Memory in a Digital Age. (Under the direction of Dr. Victoria J. Gallagher.) From Plato to the present, memory has been linked to techne. And memory and techne have coevolved to a present time and place when and where we are told to “Remember everything.” This dissertation takes that declaration as the exigence for exploring the intermediation of digital media and rhetorical practices of digital memory as performed by individuals, collectives, and publics. By examining rhetorical practices of digital memory, this dissertation demonstrates (1) how memory becomes central to thinking about and experiencing digital media technologies, and (2) how rhetorical concepts must be adapted and updated to meet the demand of digital media technologies. This dissertation, thus, enlarges the rhetorical concept of memory by moving it into the realm of digital media, contributing to the fields of rhetorical theory, memory studies, and digital media theory. This dissertation reanimates memory as the central capacity of rhetorical theory and practice because, in contemporary culture defined by digital media, sociotechnical practices have become, once again, newly and fundamentally memorial and mnemonic. In contrast to many rhetorical studies of memory, this dissertation is less interested in what memory is than in what memory does, thus advancing a non-representational visual and material rhetoric that focuses on how memory produces and enacts relations through time and place. Combining visual, material, and digital rhetorics with digital media theory, particularly media ecology and software studies, this dissertation analyzes and evaluates how and to what extent the material affordances and constraints of digital technologies are the media and mediation of memory. Studying practices of digital memory relating to digital imaging technologies, social networking, and digital curation show how practices of memory have become enabled by, embedded with, and embodied in digital media technologies, thereby unsettling traditional experiences of temporality and spatiality, of permanence and ephemerality, of public and private, of remembering and forgetting. This dissertation reconsiders contemporary theories of memory in rhetoric and memory studies and posits an emerging monumentality whereby memory becomes the digital medium through which we live our everyday lives. © Copyright 2012 by Jason Kalin All Rights Reserved Reanimating Memory: The Prospects of Memory in a Digital Age by Jason Patrick Kalin A dissertation submitted to the Graduate Faculty of North Carolina State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Communication, Rhetoric and Digital Media Raleigh, North Carolina 2012 APPROVED BY: ______________________________ _______________________________ Victoria J. Gallagher Carolyn R. Miller Chair of Advisory Committee _____________________________ _______________________________ David Rieder Hans Kellner DEDICATION For Mom and Dad ii BIOGRAPHY Jason Kalin is a rhetorical scholar with interests in rhetorical theory and criticism, memory studies, and digital media theory. His dissertation explores the practices of remembering and forgetting as they are transformed by digital media technologies. Within this research project, he is working to understand how memory may allow individuals and publics to reimagine their pasts, presents, and futures. Prior to attending North Carolina State University, he received his BA in English and Religion from the University of Rochester in 2005 and his MA in English from Case Western Reserve University in 2008. In Fall 2008, he joined the Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media program at North Carolina State University. He has presented his work at numerous national conferences including the National Communication Association, College Composition and Communication, and the Rhetoric Society of America. He has published an article discussing student perceptions regarding the use of technologies to collaborate in the International Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Now is the time and place to remember all the colleagues, friends, and family without whom I could not have come as far as I have. Truly, this dissertation begins with y’all. I came to North Carolina State University and the Communication, Rhetoric, & Digital Media (CRDM) program humbled by the opportunity to work with the best scholars in rhetoric and communication. I leave more humbled than ever. I am amazed by the intellectual and social community of which I have been privileged to play a small part these last four years. The first acknowledgement must go to my committee: Hans Kellner, David Rieder, Carolyn Miller, and especially, my chair, Victoria Gallagher. I thank Dr. Kellner for his lectures in contemporary rhetorical theory and for agreeing to take extra time to do directed reading in the history of rhetoric and the canon of memory, which helped inform much of this dissertation. And I will always remember his advice whenever I feel overwhelmed by all the reading that must be done: “If nothing else, read the title. Because that’s something too.” I thank Dr. Rieder for pushing the theoretical boundaries of digital media and showing me what is possible when you mix theory and digital media to see what they can do. His inventiveness and passion have inspired me to be a more creative scholar. I thank Dr. Miller for her erudition and commitment, including her extraordinary ability not only to read everything (and I mean everything) but also to provide critical insights into what she has read. She always manages to ask the right question and to make the right comment. Finally, I thank Dr. Gallagher. Her class in visual and material rhetoric, in just my second semester, started me on this project, and she has been there throughout with her guidance, patience, encouragement, and enthusiasm. She has been an amazing scholarly role model. Her commitment to this dissertation has been fundamental to its iv completion; her commitment to me as a scholar and a person has been fundamental to my growth as both. Thank you, Dr. G. Thanks also are due to the other CRDM faculty members who have helped me along the way as a scholar and teacher: Deanna Dannels, Jeremy Packer, Susan Miller-Cochran, and Adriana de Souza e Silva. I thank Dr. David Berube for the research opportunities during my first year. And I would especially like to thank Steve Wiley and Jason Swarts, two remarkable CRDM program directors who have helped move the program forward to ensure its continued growth and success. The faculty members of CRDM, with their support both inside and outside the classroom, help make the program what it is. I deeply appreciate their generosity with their time and energy, and I will miss such an intellectually stimulating and supportive environment. The administrative staff of the Graduate School, the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and the Department of English, the Department of Communication, and the CRDM program are to be thanked, as well, especially Jan Raymondi and Joan Alford. I must thank the best cohort ever—Kati Fargo Ahern, Jacob Dickerson, Jordan Frith, David Gruber, Matt Morain, Dan Sutko, and Zach Rash. Without y’all and your unique contributions to our group dynamics, these past four years would not have been the same. I especially treasure the time we spent outside the classroom growing together as friends, moving one another’s stuff from house to house, grilling out in backyards, and drinking beers whenever and wherever. Kati, thank you for bringing goodies to class and for your ear-splitting, head- spinning laugh (gold stars for everyone). Jacob, thank you for being the occasional grumpy, fist- shaking curmudgeon that every technology-loving cohort needs. Jordan, thank you for always being the first (and last) to speak in class. You were never afraid to say something. Zach, thank you v for being the opposite of Jordan and waiting to jump into the conversation at just the right time. David, thank you for your wild gesticulations and deep philosophical questions. I look forward to the day when you are a world-renowned scholar (more than you already are), and I can say, “I used to share a cubicle with him.” Matt, thank you for never missing a pun and for your dedication to beer drinking and board games (along with your wife, Tracy). Dan, thank you for being a good roommate and friend. We might not have agreed on all the particulars of household management, but we lived together for three years and are better for it, I would like to think. And finally, Lauren Clark, though not part of the cohort proper, deserves special thanks. Thank you, Lauren, for being you and for all the memories we share. Though partial to my cohort, the CRDM program has had and continues to have outstanding cohorts. I would like to thank in particular Kelly Martin, Kathy Oswald, Shayne Pepper, and Dawn Shepherd who showed us how we do things around here even as everyone was figuring out how we do things around here. I would also like to acknowledge the new cohorts for continuing to push the program into new areas of study and continuing its growth and success, especially Kevin Brock, Fernanda Duarte, Meagan Kittle Autry, Kate Maddalena, Ryan McGrady, Josh Reeves, and Jeff Swift. I wish everyone in CRDM the best of luck. I would also like to thank Raleigh, NC for being such a wonderful place to live. And I will miss being able to say with confidence, “Just another beautiful day in Raleigh, North Carolina.” Finally, as always, many thanks are due to my family. My parents, Toby and Patti, and my brother, Todd, have always given me their unconditional love. My parents taught me, through their examples, not only the value of a work ethic and a commitment to a job well done, but also vi the value of always trying to be a better person and to do the right thing.