Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Ada C. Machado da Silveira 174 have of the country’s continentality, and the relationships that are sustained, are both deeply influenced by the mediatized construction of reality 4 . The CUT BRA-PY-AR has three characteristic urban en- vironments, a conurbation inserted in the so-called Arco Sul of the Brazilian frontier 5 . The cities of Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil), Ciu- dad del Este (Paraguay), and Puerto Iguazú (Argentina) consti- tute a transnational metropolitan space, bounded by the Paraná and Iguaçu rivers. The tri-national consortium of green tourism, gastronomy, and shopping is part of the set of attractions known worldwide. Considered the third Brazilian tourist pole, the me- diatization of such a space is established by unequal exchange, while an influential media structure endures there. Such a me- dia structure is oriented vertically by national oligopolies. How- ever, the local level of the referred CUT also proves the influence of provincially located agents, while they interact with other agents, beyond the international frontier. Rather than as a limit, the notions of platina trans-frontier and the understanding of frontiers as contact and openness stand out. The conflictual relationship supported by the War of Paraguay (1864-1870), which historians treated as the central precedent in defining Brazilian national identity, was evident when the nationals of several Brazilian regions met in person. The conflict, however, cannot erase the precedence of exile and subordination of the original populations, whose references persist in the Guarani language and toponyms, found as denomi- nators of rivers, and geographical points. Besides, the historicity of the conflict and its profound developments in the relations of the platina environment retain marks of militarization and police control in the current media-communication system, as I comment below. 4 Hjarvard (2012, p. 62) states: “Thus, the media-orchestrated Gulf War was not a war as we once knew war to be because our perception of the war was steered by the images and symbols the media presented to us.” 5 The CUT is in what is characterized as Arco Sul (South Arch), unlike Arco Cen- tral (Central Arch) and Arco Norte (North Arch) on the Brazilian borders. De- spite its intraregional differences, Arco Sul is characterized by its occupational density, the presence of the European socio-economic and cultural legacy, and its cross-border dynamics (BRASIL, 2005, p. 61).