Montreal School of Intermediality: Beyond Media Studies

Abstract

This chapter presents the intermedial perspective developed by the Montreal School. In order to avoid yet another debate on the definition of the term intermediality, the adopted approach is rather to situate this work at the articulation of other intermedial approaches (mainly centered on co-presence, transfer, and the emergence of new media) and media archaeology, to insist on either the differences (Part 2) or the complementarities between these viewpoints (Part 4). It is also a question of showing the heuristic effects of the work of the main members of the aforementioned school (Bem, Despoix, Froger, Mariniello, Méchoulan, Villeneuve) from a corpus of texts mainly taken from a double issue of the journal Communication et langages, entitled Études intermédiales. À la rencontre de l’École de Montréal (2021). What emerges is the importance of the notions of milieu and mediality, but also of “living together.” It is a way of insisting on the fact that the singularity of this school rests on the purpose of the research carried out by its members, the latter aiming less at the study of media for media’s sake, than at a reflection of a political nature (Part 3). The concluding section insists on the perspective put on the above-mentioned notions by members of the school itself (Larrue, Vitali-Rosati). This avoids giving the impression that the school of thought in question corresponds to a unified perspective (Part 5).