Materialidad de la información en Bernd Frohmann

Abstract

Bernd Frohmann's investigations have been relevant to the field of information science and related disciplines, addressing topics such as enunciation/discourse, institutionality, dispositives, networks, agency, documentary practices, actors, associations, policies, information regimes, and materiality. These themes are shaped, in terms of materiality, through the stabilization of statements in documents or "quasi-objects" that circulate and generate social effects. Therefore, the objective is to analyze the concept of materiality in Frohmann, considering institutional, epistemological, and political implications. Literature review was conducted, including Frohmann's publications from 1992 to 2008, as well as analysis of texts that utilize that theoretical framework. The analysis is based on the assumptions of documentary ontology, whereby documentation is guided by the interplay of document properties, motivations, and agency effects. Within these assumptions, materiality serves as a heuristic resource. The publications offer a distinct overview of documentation studies, differentiating from positivist, functionalist, and/or mentalist approaches. When addressing the materiality of information, Frohmann is primarily interested in the processes it undergoes, such as how the document, as a sociotechnical object and means of materiality stabilization, generates effects in specific contexts with social, epistemological, political, and ethical implications.