Journal 4 Melissa Kimball

The terms remix and assemblage mean very similar things. It is actually very confusing. Remix is a term that is usually applied to music where it represents a song that has been altered significantly. In relations to other things, however, the term remix has a broader reach and can refer to any media that has been altered. Assemblage refers to something that incorporates new ideas with an old idea. The best example I can think of is fanfiction. The setting, characters, and major events are usually the same, but smaller events, conversations, other characters, and other places can also be original. In a way, I believe this journal is also an assemblage. I’m talking about remix and assemblage just like Johnson-Eilola and Selber do, but I’m adding in new things, like this sentence right here. Really, these two definitions have a lot of similarities. The difference between remix and assemblage is very small. A remix is a synthesis of elements. An assemblage is a combination of new and old with a clear boundary. With remix, I think we gain the ability to blend ideas to reach a new conclusion. However, with remix, we lose the ability to see what is original and what is mixed in later. With assemblage, we gain the ability to compare and contrast different ideas. We lose the new conclusion that we can reach with a remix. Personally, I think a remix is more important because fanfictions—and most storylines—are just remixes of just other things. Overall, though, I think both remixes and assemblages are equally important even though they are so closely related and similar.