1THE PROMISE OF MEDIA ANTHROPOLOGY

Media anthropology grows out of theanthropology of modern societies,on one hand, and the cultural turn in media studies, on the other. It turns its attention from “exotic ” to mundane and from “indigenous” to manufactured culture but preserves the methodological and conceptual assets of earlier anthropological tradition. It prepares media studies for more complete engagement with the symbolic construction of reality and the funda-mental importance of symbolic structures, myth, and ritual in everyday life. Even though it does not have to invent new theories and methods, media anthropology is not a mere exercise of mechanically applying anthropologists ’ concepts and techniques to media phenomena. The identity of anthropolog