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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The spiral groove of the record, the brittle voices: gramophones are normally remembered as the means our forefathers used to listen to music. What is largely forgotten today is that gramophone discs also served a very different purpose from the 1920s to 1950s as a means to record private spoken letters that were then sent by mail - a widespread form of communication known as "Phonopost". While already imagined as a possibility by Thomas Alva Edison upon the invention of the phonograph in 1877, extensive cultures of the “Sprechbrief” only really developed with the advent of the flat gramophone record in the early 20th century. In his lecture Einstein Visiting Fellow Thomas Y. Levin will present some key moments in this media archeology of voice mail and will officially launch a new digital archive he has created for this overlooked facet of media culture.
Programme
6:30 pm Admission
7:00 pm Welcome
7:15 pm Lecture
8:30 pm Reception
Thomas Y. Levin
Thomas Y. Levin is Associate Professor of German at Princeton University. His research encompasses theoretical works on aesthetics as well as comparative studies on old and new media. Since November 2010, the renowned scholar, translator and curator has been Einstein Visiting Fellow at the Friedrich Schlegel Graduate School of Literary Studies. Together with his Berlin research group, Thomas Y. Levin is reconstructing the media archaeology of the acoustic letter. The “Phonopost” collection and archive is the first landmark of this project.
Einstein Visiting Fellow
The aim of the funding programme “Einstein Visiting Fellow” of the Einstein Foundation Berlin is to integrate outstanding foreign scientists into the Berlin research landscape.
Meeting Einstein
Outstanding academics present their findings to the Berlin public.
Next Lecture
17 January 2013
David Mooney, Harvard University
Biomaterials: Replace or Complement Pharmaceuticals?
Information on participating / attending:
Please register at www.einsteinfoundation.de
Kindly note that registered guests will be seated in the order of their arrival.
Date:
12/04/2012 19:00 - 12/04/2012 21:00
Registration deadline:
12/03/2012
Event venue:
Museum für Kommunikation
Leipziger Straße 16
10117 Berlin
www.mfk-berlin.de
10117 Berlin
Berlin
Germany
Target group:
Journalists, all interested persons
Email address:
Relevance:
regional
Subject areas:
Cultural sciences, History / archaeology, Language / literature, Media and communication sciences
Types of events:
Presentation / colloquium / lecture
Entry:
11/21/2012
Sender/author:
Christian Martin
Department:
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit
Event is free:
yes
Language of the text:
English
URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event41866
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