Media Archaeology. Approaches, Applications, and Implications

Edited by Erkki Huhtamo and Jussi Parikka
University of California Press, May 2011

The book introduces an archaeological approach to the study of media - one that sifts through the evidence to learn how media were written about, used, designed, preserved, and sometimes discarded. With contributions from internationally prominent scholars, the essays help us understand how the media that predate today’s interactive, digital forms were in their time contested, adopted and embedded in the everyday. Providing a broad overview of the many historical and theoretical facets of Media Archaeology as an emerging field, the book encourages discussion by presenting a full range of different voices. By revisiting ‘old’ or even ‘dead’ media, it provides a richer horizon for understanding ‘new’ media in their
complex and often contradictory roles in contemporary society and culture.

The introduction is available here.