40
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
true just in so far as they help us to get into satisfactory relation with other
parts of our experience.” 31 Such a functional understanding of culture as
interlocking networks of adaptations challenges hierarchical conceptions of
“original” thought and authorship, instead offering a view that presumes the
horizontal coexistence of multiple “truths” negotiated in the shared process
of creating meaning, depending on whether they succeed in establishing
a connection.
At the same time, what “works” in a particular context cannot be fully
controlled or planned, since “truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is
made true by an event.” 32 The question why Jeff Buckley’s cover version of
Leonard Cohen’s ballad “Hallelujah” is by far more popular than the original
or the numerous other cover versions cannot be explained by simple cause
and effect models. However, the song’s popularity is not the whole “truth”
either. The momentary (and relative) “success” of Buckley’s adaptation does
not mean it will be the most popular forever, nor for every listener. Just
as Buckley’s “Hallelujah” fulfills a certain function for a certain group of
listeners or for a music industry that for various reasons promotes exactly
this version, John Cale’s or Justin Timberlake’s versions perfectly fulfill their
functions at another time and for another audience. Which version is “valid”
at a particular moment depends exclusively on this moment, on what James
calls “the event,” the combination of contingent factors. 33
It follows that adaptational pluralism, most explicit in convergence culture
and franchise adaptations, becomes a desired concept, since, following a
Pragmatist notion of truth, there exists no ultimate authority in the process
of value making. 34 Therefore, if cultural production is a way of experiencing
the world and of creating knowledge and meaning, it necessarily becomes a
process of constant adaptation. Collective experience, to extend James’ tenets
to a global scale, can be perceived as “a member of diverse processes that can
be followed away from it along entirely different lines.” 35 James implicitly
uses the concept of the network to emphasize the interconnectedness of
processes involved in the act of experience. This view implies that through
31 William James, “What Pragmatism Means.” In Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways
of Thinking (Rockville, MD: Arc Manor, 2008), 32.
32 William James, “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth” [1907], in The Pragmatism Reader: From
Peirce Through the Present, ed. by Robert B. Talisse and Scott F. Aikin (Princeton University
Press, 2011), 80.
33 James, “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth,” 87.
34 Cf. Michael Bacon, Pragmatism: An Introduction (Cambridge: Polity, 2012), 38.
35 William James, “Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?” The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and
Scientific Methods 1.18 (1904), 481.
AdAptAtion in the Age of MediA ConvergenCe
true just in so far as they help us to get into satisfactory relation with other
parts of our experience.” 31 Such a functional understanding of culture as
interlocking networks of adaptations challenges hierarchical conceptions of
“original” thought and authorship, instead offering a view that presumes the
horizontal coexistence of multiple “truths” negotiated in the shared process
of creating meaning, depending on whether they succeed in establishing
a connection.
At the same time, what “works” in a particular context cannot be fully
controlled or planned, since “truth happens to an idea. It becomes true, is
made true by an event.” 32 The question why Jeff Buckley’s cover version of
Leonard Cohen’s ballad “Hallelujah” is by far more popular than the original
or the numerous other cover versions cannot be explained by simple cause
and effect models. However, the song’s popularity is not the whole “truth”
either. The momentary (and relative) “success” of Buckley’s adaptation does
not mean it will be the most popular forever, nor for every listener. Just
as Buckley’s “Hallelujah” fulfills a certain function for a certain group of
listeners or for a music industry that for various reasons promotes exactly
this version, John Cale’s or Justin Timberlake’s versions perfectly fulfill their
functions at another time and for another audience. Which version is “valid”
at a particular moment depends exclusively on this moment, on what James
calls “the event,” the combination of contingent factors. 33
It follows that adaptational pluralism, most explicit in convergence culture
and franchise adaptations, becomes a desired concept, since, following a
Pragmatist notion of truth, there exists no ultimate authority in the process
of value making. 34 Therefore, if cultural production is a way of experiencing
the world and of creating knowledge and meaning, it necessarily becomes a
process of constant adaptation. Collective experience, to extend James’ tenets
to a global scale, can be perceived as “a member of diverse processes that can
be followed away from it along entirely different lines.” 35 James implicitly
uses the concept of the network to emphasize the interconnectedness of
processes involved in the act of experience. This view implies that through
31 William James, “What Pragmatism Means.” In Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways
of Thinking (Rockville, MD: Arc Manor, 2008), 32.
32 William James, “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth” [1907], in The Pragmatism Reader: From
Peirce Through the Present, ed. by Robert B. Talisse and Scott F. Aikin (Princeton University
Press, 2011), 80.
33 James, “Pragmatism’s Conception of Truth,” 87.
34 Cf. Michael Bacon, Pragmatism: An Introduction (Cambridge: Polity, 2012), 38.
35 William James, “Does ‘Consciousness’ Exist?” The Journal of Philosophy, Psychology and
Scientific Methods 1.18 (1904), 481.