Multimodality in the Technical Age: A Historical Survey of Technology and Writing

ABSTRACT\ud MULTIMODALITY IN THE TECHNICAL AGE: A HISTORICAL\ud SURVEY OF TECHNOLOGY AND WRITING\ud by\ud ?? Christina Deann Kraker 2011\ud Master of Arts in English\ud California State University, Chico\ud Summer 2011\ud This thesis begins with an examination of the spread of literacy during the\ud period spanning medieval and Renaissance Europe. By analyzing the relationship\ud between the proliferation of literacy and the advent of literate technology, this thesis\ud posits that the benefits of literacy are culturally imagined through particular, goaloriented\ud uses of literate technologies. Using this idea as lens for analysis, chapter two\ud argues that the proliferation of Internet technology during the 21st century is\ud systematically similar to the proliferation of manuscript and print technology in medieval\ud and Renaissance Europe. Influenced by the idea that the benefits of literate technologies\ud are always specifically connected to the practices of a time, place and culture, chapter\ud three closely analyzes and critiques Gunther Kress??? work on multimodality and Internet\ud technology. Chapter three suggests that Kress misinterprets Ferdinand de Saussure???s\ud linguistic theory of the sign, which leads to great theoretical consequences in Kress???\ud evaluation of the impacts of technology on 21st century Western literate practice. Chapter\ud four looks at three polemic applications of Kress??? theory to further demonstrate the\ud problems that arise when the proliferation and advent of literate technologies are equated\ud to cognitive and affective growth in human potential. This thesis concludes that the\ud relationship between cultural practice, literacy and technology are dialectical???meaning\ud that any said ???benefits??? of technology are interdependently connected to cultural practice.CSU, Chic