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The research group Industrialisierung der Wahrnehmung (“industrialization of perception”) deals with the conditions and consequences of the emergence of film as a new medium in Germany between 1895 and 1914. For their conference

New paradigms of perception: changes in media and perception around 1900

they now would like to invite papers that address one or more of the following questions: ...

1. Perception: What do we mean by “changes in perception”? What kinds of changes are possible, how does it come about and in what time spans? Apart from historical differences, are there also other relevant factors, such as cultural, gender or individual differences?
2. Media: What roles do media play in such changes of perception? What relationships between media and perception can we postulate, e.g. are media antecedents or consequences of such changes? Which media are relevant and how are they interrelated?
3. Methodology: How have such questions been researched and how could they be researched in future? Which disciplines could contribute to the understanding of such processes (e.g. film studies, cultural studies, sociology, psychology, anthropology)? What can we learn from the history of social science, i.e. how did contemporaries research and reflect the changes at the time of their emergence (e. g. Weber, Simmel, Münsterberg, Wundt)?

The complex process of modernization, which unfolded its dynamics during the second half of the 19th century, brought about a profound change in perceptual behavior. Simmel (1903) spoke of “the intensification of nervous stimulation” and Benjamin (1935) of “shock” to describe the phenomenon that urban life is determined by a greater intensity and speed of sensorial impressions; this phenomenon had significant influence on the arts. Film, which was introduced on the market at the climax of modernization, reproduced the new modes of perception by being a medium for recording movement and also furthered them with its specific potentials as medium. The industrialization of the new medium itself brought pivotal urban experiences to remote regions, which had not previously been touched to a comparable extent by the process of modernization. The more general aim is to contribute to the understanding of the interrelationship between historical change, perception and media. The project is based in film studies, but the approach is empirical and transdisciplinary. In the research process, challenging questions of theoretical as well as methodological interest have come up. The conference would like to provide a forum for discussion of these questions among distinguished international experts from diverse disciplines.

Papers should be in English, explain their theoretical background, clearly define their central terms and make explicit their methodology. Papers will be published in a collection after the conference.
Please email a proposal of approx. 100 words together with personal information on academic background.

Contact:
Annemone Ligensa
Unversität Siegen
Sfb/FK 615 "Medienumbrüche"
57068 Siegen, Germany
fon +49(0)2717404946
fax +49(0)2717404924
mail: ligensa@fk615.uni-siegen.de