The video- and multimedia-article as a mode of scholarly communication: toward scientifically informed expression and aesthetics

Abstract

Social scientists in today's rapidly evolving technological culture face the challenge of employing new and more established visual technologies in all their facets. This article proposes to incorporate those new and more established visual technologies from more media literate, culturally and scientifically informed perspective. First, a brief introduction this multifaceted issue in the past and current context of anthropological and sociological image production is provided. Next, in an effort to illustrate what a more visual mode of scholarly communication may comprise, a detailed analysis is offered of an older but noteworthy attempt of a French sociologist to produce a self-contained scientific “article” on video. This concrete example also allows discussion of some the lurking dangers of carelessly adopting established visual cultural practices and aesthetics irrespective purpose and of the cultural context of its use. conclusion, the line of reasoning moves beyond any particular technology or application to forward some thoughts on the need to develop a more thoughtful and explicit aesthetic of scientific communication.