Mediation

Mediation is the process of conveying information through an instrument, or medium. Thus, the idea of mediation starts with the medium, a concept widely discussed in the present era in media and communications departments at educational institutes around the globe; in magazines, journals and books; and at all kinds of conferences that take the concept of mediation as their point of departure. The concept of medium is also important for scholars interested in identity because how information or messages are conveyed can affect one's sense of self and others’ views of one's identity. Yet, what qualifies as a medium remains a source of continuing inquiry and debate. There are the usual suspects: mass media communications apparatuses such as telephone, film, radio, television, and the Internet. But there is much room to argue whether these are the only phenomena through which a message or information is transported. Many theorists that claim that everything in a way has the potential to work as a medium because every phenomenon, both material and immaterial, is capable of functioning as a means through which a message is expressed. In this sense, there is no difference between a television, a concept, a Madeleine, a newspaper, and a human body because they are all able to carry information or convey meaning, articulating messages in an array of differing contexts and situations. Yet a group of scholars also claims the opposite, namely, that there is no such thing as a medium. This counterargument posits that information or meaning cannot possibly be transferred through a medium from one thing to the other. The message then only comes into being when a recollection of words, gestures, and other forms of expression affects one's thoughts and form an idea in the wake of their destabilization.