The Intermediality of Early Modern Communication. An Introduction

Despite its current ubiquity in many academic fields, the notion of intermediality is hardly new and the awareness of medial interdependence has been a commonplace that goes back at least as far as classical Antiquity. The introduction to this special issue examines the long (and sometimes ambiguous) history of the relationships and the interactions between written and spoken words, pictures, sound, music and performance. In this context, we suggest a systemic approach to media and communication history that moves away from discussions of the relative influence of one medium at the expense of another and instead considers patterns of interaction, interactivity and complementarity between them. After an overview of various definitions and theoretical approaches, we focus on intermedia objects, practices and actors in order to illuminate the dynamics of early modern intermediality.