Networks, Society, and Polis: Epistemological Approaches on Mediatization

Vera V. França 30 duce and subscribe to different circuits (BRAGA, 2012). Gomes, in turn, on the path outlined by Sodré, makes an interesting note, exploring the concept of mediatization as a hermeneutic key: “society perceives and perceives itself” departing from the media – which both indicates the media as “mediators” of reality (medium acting on the perception that members of society have of their reality) as highlighted by the study of the phenomenon as a way to understand society itself. III – Systematizations The topic of mediatization and media culture has been widely discussed by researchers from England (Nick Couldry, Sonia Livingstone) and, even more sharply, by researchers from Northern Europe (Gudmund Hernes, Andreas Hepp, Stig Hjar - vard, Friedrich Krotz, Winfried Schulz, Jesper Stromback). Göran Bolin (2016) suggests a grouping of studies de- veloped by them in two traditions: - an institutionalist or institutional tradition – marked by the study of the media logic or the discussion about the media institutionalization and its relationship with different organiza- tions. Hjarvard highlights the two sides of the media’s interven- tion (its duality ): the institutionalization of the media itself (its semi-independence concerning other instances), its interference (and transformations) in other spheres and institutions. The au- thor places the analysis of mediatization at the meso level of cul- ture and society (above micro-interactions but below structural levels), seeking to “specify the elements comprising the ‘media logic’ within a particular domain and to better analyze the inter- play between the media and other social spheres (institutions)” (HJARVARD, 2014, p. 30). Altheide and Snow (cit. ap. HJARVARD, 2014) develop analyzes of social institutions transformed by the media and emphasize the primacy of form (of media logic) over the content. - a socio-constructivist tradition , focused on everyday interaction practices – rooted in the symbolic interactionism and the sociology of knowledge, combined with a media theory. Krotz (cit. ap. HEPP, 2011; HJARVARD, 2014) understands medi-