[Air-l] Habermas and the Internet

[Thomas Koenig]

David Brake wrote:
> The full text of his speech in German in PDF form is apparently here:
> http://www.renner-institut.at/download/texte/habermas2006-03-09.pdf
>
> The translation that is circulating around the Internet of some of  
> what he said about the Internet from signandsight is:
> "On the one hand, the communication shift from books and the printed  
> press to the television and the Internet has brought about an  
> unimagined broadening of the media sphere, and an unprecedented  
> consolidation of communication networks. Intellectuals used to swim  
> around in the public sphere like fish in water, but this environment  
> has become ever more inclusive, while the exchange of ideas has  
> become more intensive than ever. But on the other hand the  
> intellectuals seem to be suffocating from the excess of this  
> vitalising element, as if they were overdosing. The blessing seems to  
> have become a curse. I see the reasons for that in the de- 
> formalisation of the public sphere, and in the de-differentiation of  
> the respective roles."
>   
Apart from the fact that the clumsy translation of /Oeffentlichkeit/ 
into "public sphere" has been replicated for good (everyone knows the 
'public sphere') and not so good ('publicness' might not be an English 
word, but it would be immediately understandable and would not cover the 
same "boundedness" connotation as does public sphere) reasons, this is a 
fairly accurate translation.


[...]
> It is excessively frustrating that his speech has not been translated  
> to English in full yet, so please add my voice to the request that  
> someone translate it and post it to the list (and preferably put the  
> translation onto a web page somewhere we can all link to).
>   

It's a question of money, how much do you offer? Remember: It took 23 
years for "Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere" and something 
like 3-5 for TCA and FuG. Do you have any particular question about the 
text? It only touches briefly on the question of New Media.

-- 
thomas koenig
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/research/mmethods/staff/thomas/index.html