This paper argues that an investigation into the technopolitics of aural media entails exploring its role in society shaping, political usage, and citizenship construction, which all revolve around the nexus between aural media and auditory perception. Guided by the idea of “media as method,” the discussion will place particular emphasis on the ontology of radio broadcasting per se, especially foregrounding its aural dimension. By sketching out a historical trajectory of wireless technologies, it is my intention to address the following questions: What kind of auditory experience, as well as modern subjects, are formed as radio broadcasting trains auditory perception? And what relationship arises out of this process between radio broadcasting on the one hand and the organization of modern polity and the production of subjectivities on the other? Overall, this paper suggests that reflecting on issues such as how radio broadcasting affects political system, constructs communities, and shapes collective and individual personhood will contribute to a better understanding of radio’s structural attributes, together with the technopolitics of modern aural media.
LI Baoyu.
The Technopolitics of Aural Media: An Investigation Based on the Early History of Wireless Technology. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication. 2022, 44(5): 158-176