Toward a media maintenance approach (MEMA): Maintenance as a theoretical tool for media studies

This paper introduces and discusses a theoretical approach for media scholars: the media maintenance approach (MEMA). Maintenance is not a new subject of study in social sciences and humanities, but it has been rarely addressed by media studies so far. After reviewing literature about maintenance in history of technology, philosophy of technology, and STS, and defining the concept of “maintenance”, the paper turns to media studies and examines how current (sub)fields, such as media archaeology, ecomedia, media sustainability, media history, media evolution, audience and users’ studies, labor studies, and PEC have already addressed issues related to maintenance and to maintaining forms or practices of communication. MEMA can gather, connect and enrich these existing perspectives and can advance a unified and integrated approach able to combine continuity and change, but also conservation and innovation in media studies. In the conclusion, the paper addresses three “benefits” that MEMA can bring to media studies, all dealing with different degrees of temporalities.