Richard Kern

From the origins of writing to today's computer-mediated communication, material technologies shape how we read and write, how we construe and share knowledge, and ultimately how we understand ourselves in relation to the world. However, communication technologies are themselves designed in particular social and cultural contexts and their use is adapted in creative ways by individuals. In this book, Richard Kern explores how technology matters to language and the ways in which we use it. Kern reveals how material, social and individual resources interact in the design of textual meaning, and how that interaction plays out across contexts of communication, different situations of technological mediation, and different moments in time. Showing how people have adapted visual forms to various media as well as to social needs, this study culminates in five fundamental principles to guide language and literacy education in a period of rapid technological and social change.

From the origins of writing to today's computer-mediated communication, material technologies shape how we read and write, how we construe and share knowledge, and ultimately how we understand ourselves in relation to the world. However, communication technologies are themselves designed in particular social and cultural contexts and their use is adapted in creative ways by individuals. In this book, Richard Kern explores how technology matters to language and the ways in which we use it. Kern reveals how material, social and individual resources interact in the design of textual meaning, and how that interaction plays out across contexts of communication, different situations of technological mediation, and different moments in time. Showing how people have adapted visual forms to various media as well as to social needs, this study culminates in five fundamental principles to guide language and literacy education in a period of rapid technological and social change.

Writer Carl Abrahamsson started taking photos to go along with the interviews he made for the fanzines “Lollipop” and “Acts Of Interstellar Torture” (1985-1988). From this vast and snap-happy collection comes “FanzinEra”, a selection which includes portraits and live shots of underground superstars like: Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Lydia Lunch, Richard Kern, Nick Zedd, Joe Coleman, The Gun Club, The Cramps, Union Carbide Productions, The Leather Nun, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Alex Chilton, The Church, The Go-Betweens, Long Ryders, Died Pretty, The Scientists, The Saints, Sort Sol, Sator, John Lydon, Legendary Stardust Cowboy, New Order, The Godfathers, Genesis P-Orridge, Henry Rollins, Pere Ubu, Hüsker Dü, The Shamen, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction, Dom Dummaste, The Stomachmouths, The Nomads, The Creeps, Pushtwangers, Livingstones, Wylde Mammoths, Blue For Two and Cortex... ... To name but a few! Also included are textual flashbacks and quotes from the interviews, and an introduction by photographer Richard Kern.