German media theory that emerged in the late 70s and early 80s | Siegen, Freiburg, Kassel | philosophical underpinnings: There must be reference, something outside of the text, beyond hermeneutics. The exodus of spirit out of humanities. Desire for reference. Then there is the substance concept. Obviously there is deconstruction of subject. Special interest in history and fascination for philosophical antropology and long cultural shifts (dating 50k-100k years back). Early pressure, and desire, ever since Humboldt and the way he designed the university system, to innovate. Ordinary knowledge needs to be taught in highschool or polytechnics. The university is a place for new thinking. This could explain why there is a permanent revolution inside the German universities ever since the post-war era. | Kittler laments the lack of technological knowledge in the humanities and is sceptical about the wishy-washy term ‘media theory’ that has been misused to such a vast extend.
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/geert/2009/04/23/debating-german-media-theory-in-siegen/