Changes in the media environment always lead to changes in the media system, reflecting a different quality of communications. The nature of actors, channels, and effects becomes the object of attention of mass communications researchers. In her article Assembling the (Non)Human: The Animal as Medium, Jody Berland examines McLuhan’s media theory, arguing for the existence of animals as mediators of social communication. This work allows to understand the statement that the medium is a message and can also be an animal.
The introduction of animals into mediation theory preserves the idea of natural human development. Animals did not just serve as intermediaries between people; it is enough to recall the history of the creation of the machine (Berland 142). It has become a replacement for ‘horsepower’; thus, animals are intermediaries between people and devices; they are one of the engines of progress. As food, possessions, companions, or tribute, animals make up a large part of the materiality and meaning that make up the similarities and differences in all societies (Berland 143). Animals were among the first mediators of social relations between people.
People do not think about animals as media because it is considered part of the technology. Animals, on the other hand, are part of nature, which is generally considered the opposite, which is why many insist on a clear separation of boundaries between the natural and the artificial. However, much is formed due to human and technological activities (Berland 143). More broadly, to see how animals, plants, households, and food are shaped by human actions.
Human activity, media, and animals can create an ordinary situation that everyone can share with others. In this case, we should talk about the co-dependence of man and technology and the presence of animals. These can be material and symbolic repetitions of a non-human entity to the same extent that they depend on their artificial technological processes. Thus, the media environment does not exclude the presence of a non-human animal principle in the media environment.
Work Cited
Berland, Jody. “Assembling the (Non)Human: The Animal as Medium.” Imaginations Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies/Revue d Études Interculturelle De l Image, vol. 8, no. 3, 2017.