Assembling Texts in the Digital University

TLDR: This article propose a model for understanding the mechanics through which both digital and non-digital academic texts are assembled, drawing on social semiotics and the material philosophy of Gilles Deleuze, and employ the concepts of interest, semiotics resources, and affordances in an effort to undo the dichotomies between digital/nondigital and social/material.

Abstract: This article engages with new research into digital academic practices in the university and argues that although significant advances have been made in understanding new literacy and media practices, a tendency remains for research both to reify “the digital” and to neglect the material dimension of text-making. In response, this article proposes a model for understanding the mechanics through which both digital and nondigital academic texts are assembled. Drawing on social semiotics and the material philosophy of Gilles Deleuze, this model employs the concepts of interest, semiotics resources, and affordances in an effort to undo the dichotomies between “digital”/“nondigital and “social”/“material.” The article concludes by reflecting on how journals such as the International Journal of Learning and Media are redefining the “conditions of possibility” of academic texts.