Bird Sphère:Using Birds As A Medium

As a “meta-proposition” in communication research,media research is reflecting two important research trends at present.One of the discussions of media begins to return to its original meaning of “middle”,“intermediate position” and “intermediate place”,which is focusing on how media acts as a “functional position” and “intermediate link” that transitions and changes relationship and how the mediated connections through media bring about the shaping of relationships and changes in dynamics.Another one is the understanding of the media began to transcend from the traditional mass communication media.The extension of the media continued to expand,with a tendency to shift from a social creation to a natural object.The idea of “media as environments” initiated by media ecology is moving from metaphorical level to substantive level.This paper is a confluence of these two research trends.Based on the field study of birdwatching practicesin Hanlong group,Baihualing Village,Baoshan City,Yunnan Province,and the empirical materials obtained from it,this paper understands birds in birdwatching practices as mediums while answering the research question “how do birds act as mediums to connect everything and reorganize the society?”After a more detailed introduction and retracing of the natural geography and socio-historical development of the Hanlong Village,this paper first discusses why birds as natural objects can be mediums.This is that the presence and accessibility of birds that they could be “seen” by birdwatchers under the action of various visibility production mechanisms.The bird’s special physical techniques,as well as the affordance of physical techniques realized by the bird in collocation with technologies such as bird ponds and bird sounds and with people such as bird guides and bird pond owners,together ensure and fulfill the role and function of the bird as a mediums in the practice of bird watching.The paper then describes in detail and traces the relationship between the specific processes of connection and transformation of birds as mediums in birdwatching practices.Specifically,in the practice of birding,birds establish their connections both with technologies,such as bird books,cameras,cell phones,cars and bird nets,and with people or organizations such as ornithologists,birders,protected areas,governments and villagers.Next,this paper analyzes how the ecology landscape of the Hanlong village has changed through the connection and transformation of the bird as a medium.Finally,based on empirical elaboration,this paper uses a theoretical concept of “bird sphère” to express this multiple connection process with birds as a medium and the cultural results,and constructs and interprets the theoretical meaning of “bird sphère”.This paper discusses the natural bird as a medium,and not only provides empirical case support for the proposition of “nature as a medium”,but also constructs a theoretical connotation at the theoretical level.This can inspire media research to turn its perspective from traditional social creations to various organic or inorganic life forms in nature,thereby opening up a richer problem domain for them.At the same time,this paper also suggests some specific paths for the research with nature as the medium: on the one hand,it needs to be supported by certain natural scientific knowledge,and on the other hand,other things related to nature cannot be ignored,which is also a response to Kittler’s advocacy that interdisciplinary media studies should include STEM disciplines such as science,technology,engineering and mathematics..