Déjà vu

In general terms, remediation is the act of providing a remedy. Within media however, we view remediation as the incorporation or representation of one medium in another medium.  It is a defining characteristic of new digital media and something that is constantly happening within our culture, "the content' of any medium is always another medium." (McLuhan, 1964, p23-24)

Remediation can be visible or transparent. The Hollywood adaptations of Jane Austen's classic novels is an example of transparent remediation. The films themselves do not contain any acknowledgment or reference to the original mediums, “The content has been borrowed, but the medium has not been appropriated or quoted” (Bolter 2000, p44). This allows for the complete absorption of the original medium into the new medium. “Acknowledging the novel in the film would disrupt the continuity and the illusion of immediacy that Austen’s readers expect” (Bolter 2000, p44). Much like CD-ROM picture galleries on the internet offer the same paintings, not in opposition to the originals, but merely as a new means of attaining the same result. The original is remediated to an electronic digital form.

In contrast to this, remediation can be more aggressive in its refashioning of the medium or media. Movie clips can be torn out of context, and placed in a totally new environment such as music videos. Thus becoming a visible remediation; “The work becomes a mosaic in which we are simultaneously aware of the individual pieces and their new, inappropriate setting.” (Bolter 2000, p47)

Bolter and Grusin also state the case of the vide game, and it’s attempt to re-absorb the older medium “so the discontinuities between the two are minimized” (Bolter 2000, p47). Games such as “Doom” and “Myst” remediate cinema, allowing players to “become characters  in a cinematic narrative” (Bolter 2000, p47). 

The process of remediation is extremely popular in modern day culture, yet it is nothing new. Classical painters drew scenes from the Bible, and Dutch painters incorporated maps, gloves, letters and mirrors. Remediation will dhere to the rules of each new media platform, digesting and absorbing all old mediums and media content that has gone before it.

Bibiliography

Bolter, J.D, (2000) Remediation: Understanding New Media, New Ed. MIT Press. (p20-50)

McLuhan, M. (1964) Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man