ABSTRACT

Current cultural practices invite us to consider the representation of migration beyond written texts. A decade into the twenty-fi rst century, media culture has become a prime driving force in politics, culture, society, and everyday life. We can argue that the media-readily accessible to everyoneprovide models for cultural perspectives and positions, and new forms of identity. In many ways the media have become today’s dominant culture, with visual, aural/oral, and digital forms of media culture increasingly replacing book culture among large sectors of the world’s urban population, requiring a fundamental revision of the notion of literacy. Media have also become prime constituents of socialization, with social-networking sites, blogs, Twitter, YouTube, and other similar vehicles shaping our lives in signifi cant ways. Indeed, as Douglas Kellner maintains, media culture is more crucial than ever as a force that shapes our worldview:

Radio, television, fi lm, and the other products of the culture industries provide the models of what it means to be male or female, successful or a failure, powerful or powerless. Media culture also provides the materials out of which many people construct their sense of class, of ethnicity and race, of nationality, of sexuality, of ‘us’ and ‘them.’ Media culture helps shape the prevalent view of the world and deepest values: it defi nes what is considered good or bad, positive or negative, moral or evil. Media stories and images provide the symbols, myths, and resources which help constitute a common culture for the majority of individuals in many parts of the world today.1