ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of coevolution and describes its implications and possible uses in the construction of an evolutionary theory of media change. It concludes with a case study: the coevolution between comics and cinema between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The most relevant use of the concept of coevolution in the social sciences can be found in the theory of gene-culture coevolution, synthesis, still under discussion, developed at the cross-roads of evolutionary theory, genetics, and sociology of culture. Regarding the macrolevel, the analysis of the relationships between media and social institutions leads directly to mediatization theories, one of the most effervescent research areas in the last two decades in Media and Communication Studies. The coevolution between media can be analysed at different levels; for example, media may coevolve through different kinds of technological, semiotic, or economic exchanges.
