Transfer of Media Characteristics Among Dissimilar Media

A broad variety of media traits are transmedial in the sense that they can, to a certain extent, be transferred among media that differ in fundamental ways. This article presents a new theoretical framework for studying media transformation, which should be understood as transfer of transmedial characteristics. The goal is to explain how meaningful data are changed or corrupted during transfer among various media. Initially, I launch a few fundamental theoretical distinctions concerning the creation of meaningful media data. The most fundamental distinction is that between mediation and representation. Whereas mediation is the material prerequisite for representation in media, representation should be understood as a semiotic operation, that is, the creation of meaning in the mind. On the basis of this division, I also distinguish between two kinds of media transformation: transmediation and media representation. The article then continues with a section about the transmedial basis. All media have basic and universal (material, sensorial, spatiotemporal and semiotic) properties that are shared to some extent. Furthermore, media form compound characteristics (such as narrativity) that are more or less transmedial, which means that they can be transferred among media to some extent. Finally, a model for analyzing media characteristic transfer is sketched.