Exploring the Roots of Digital and Media Literacy through Personal Narrative Exploring the Roots of Digital and Media Literacy through Personal Narrative Renee Hobbs Edited by TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS Philadelphia  •  Rome  •  Tokyo TEMPLE UNIVERSITY PRESS Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19122 www.temple.edu/tempress Copyright © 2016 by Temple University—Of The Commonwealth System of Higher Education All rights reserved Published 2016 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Hobbs, Renee, editor. Title: Exploring the roots of digital and media literacy through personal narrative / edited by Renee Hobbs. Description: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : Temple University Press, 2016. | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015039689| ISBN 9781439911570 (hardback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781439911587 (paperback : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781439911594 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Media literacy. | Digital media. | Mass media—Philosophy. | Digital media—Philosophy. | Mass media and culture. | Mass media in education. | Scholars—Biography. | Intellectuals—Biography. | BISAC: SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies. | EDUCATION / Computers & Technology. Classification: LCC P96.M4 E87 2016 | DDC 302.23—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015039689 The paper used in this publication meets the requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992 Printed in the United States of America 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Introduction ■ Renee Hobbs 1 1 Historical Roots of Media Literacy ■ Renee Hobbs 9 2 David Weinberger on Martin Heidegger ■ David Weinberger 37 3 Lance Strate on Marshall McLuhan ■ Lance Strate 49 4 Dana Polan on Roland Barthes ■ Dana Polan 66 5 Cynthia Lewis on Mikhail Bakhtin ■ Cynthia Lewis 77 6 Srividya Ramasubramanian on Gordon Allport ■ Srividya Ramasubramanian 85 7 Michael RobbGrieco on Michel Foucault ■ Michael RobbGrieco 94 8 Gianna Cappello on Theodor Adorno ■ Gianna Cappello 107 9 Douglas Kellner on Herbert Marcuse ■ Douglas Kellner 126 vi \ Contents 10 Henry Jenkins on John Fiske ■ Henry Jenkins 138 11 Amy Petersen Jensen on Bertolt Brecht ■ Amy Petersen Jensen 153 12 Donna E. Alvermann on Simone de Beauvoir ■ Donna E. Alvermann 161 13 Jeremiah Dyehouse on John Dewey ■ Jeremiah Dyehouse 170 14 Renee Hobbs on Jerome Bruner ■ Renee Hobbs 180 15 Vanessa Domine on Neil Postman ■ Vanessa Domine 197 16 Peter Gutierrez on Scott McCloud ■ Peter Gutierrez 208 17 Susan Moeller on Roland Barthes ■ Susan Moeller 222 Epilogue ■ Renee Hobbs 233 Contributors 237 Index 243 Exploring the Roots of Digital and Media Literacy through Personal Narrative Introduction RENEE HOBBS I f you’re lucky enough to have known your genetic grandparents, you may have heard stories about their life experiences, which may be entertaining, amusing, or just strange. If you’re really lucky, your grandparents may shed insight on your culture and your values, reflecting the recent past as experienced in ordinary life. Once in a while, our grandparents may help us understand our own par- ents and even our own lives. I am lucky to have known three of my four grandparents, who were hard-working children of immigrants living in Minersville, Pennsylvania, raising families and working in the coal fields and dress factories of the region. Although I remember some marvelous stories about their struggles and adventures in the Roaring Twenties, I wish I had been able to know my grandparents better. But they lived far away, and our family had only limited con- tact with them while I was growing up. My intellectual grandparents, on the other hand, are people I feel that I know quite well. Even though I have only encountered them in books, their ideas resonate deeply with my own experiences, dreams, and ideas. Because I’m an inveterate reader, of course, many authors and creative people have influenced my thinking—not just when I was young but throughout my life. I feel like I have spent the better