Rethinking the Traditional Paradigm of Communication in the Era of Digital Culture

Abstract

This article aims to speculate on how the nature of communication is changing with respect to the production, manipulation and distribution of signs on various digital platforms by making a detour to the reviewing of the traditional paradigm of communication on the basis of Jacque Derrida’s critique of Austin’s speech act theory. The Derridian notion of iterability can be a clue to inquire into the contextual limit on the singularity of an event which Austin promulgates as the essence of linguistic performativity. As Derrida argues, communication must be iterable, that is, both repeatable and alterable, since it always tends toward the possibility of moving from one context to another. The interface in digital communication can be understood in terms of the Derridian sense of iterability in communication, in the sense that the interface functions basically as a transmutable platform where a digital sign performs its reciprocal acts of sending and receiving. And the iterable mechanism of digital communication can provide a useful clue to pinpoint the significance of the Digital Humanities in our time, since the most fundamental task of this new hybridized discipline would be how to montage various sets of database for the maximized qualitative use in humanities research and education. Thereby, digital communication tends toward an epistemological mapping by intersecting various layers of virtual time and space.