L'urlo dei media. La paura, il terrore e la nascita dei mezzi di comunicazione nel Novecento = Media' scream. Fear and terror of the birth of media in the Twentieth Century

• Main Author: Paolo Bory
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Università del Salento 2018-06-01
• Series: H-ermes: Journal of Communication
• Subjects: Biographies of media; media history; fear; old and new media
• Online Access: http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/h-ermes/article/view/19273

Media' scream. Fear and terror of the birth of media in the Twentieth Century. The article aims to critically reinterpret the role of narratives regarding the birth and childhood of media and their relation with the elements of fear and terror. Through the topos of the panicking audiences, these narratives conveyed the idea of technology's disruptive force and express its potential impact on society in terms of perception of reality, as well as in the reduction and modification of the dimensions of space and time.Though, the symbolic function of the relationship between the birth of the medium and the element of fear can take on different meanings. After having listed the different tales about the birth and the childhood of the media in the Twentieth Century, the article dwells on the role of fear and power in the evolution of narratives about the internet, revealing the diverging biographical trajectory characterizing the life path and the social perception of this medium in contemporary societies.