Public evening lecture by Professor Dr Alexander Ziem (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Institute of German Studies)

On social media, too, a vast amount of information rains down on us at an incredible speed and without ceasing. To avoid being overwhelmed by this sheer deluge of data, we are forced to sort and categorise the information we perceive. Despite the considerable cognitive demands involved, this process takes place almost automatically and unnoticed. It is guided not least by frames that we have acquired and which steer the process of understanding below the threshold of perception. This lecture puts forward the thesis that frames, in their function as templates for understanding, are intrinsically social in nature in two respects: They arise from social interaction and, at the same time, shape it; this is why they always operate as tools for the interest-driven control and selective distribution of information (also known as ‘framing’).

Moderator: Professor Dr Konstanze Marx-Wischnowski