Marshall McLuhan Criticism
Marshall McLuhan (1911–1980) was a Canadian non-fiction writer, critic, and editor known for his influential theories on communication and media. His work gained prominence in the 1960s, coining terms like "the medium is the message," which emphasized the impact of communication forms over their content. McLuhan argued that media shape societal structures, particularly with the rise of electronic media like television, which he believed heralded a new stage in human development by fostering a "global village," as noted in Comparing McLuhan's Vision of an Electronic 'Global Village' to Utopian Literature.
Born in Edmonton and raised in Winnipeg, McLuhan's academic journey led him from engineering to English, with significant influences from his time at Cambridge University. His conversion to Roman Catholicism during this period significantly informed his later work. He taught at various institutions before settling at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto.
McLuhan's pivotal works include The Gutenberg Galaxy, Understanding Media, and The Medium Is the Massage. These texts explore how human communication evolved through oral traditions, print, and electronic media, each shift significantly impacting human perception and societal structures. His notion of media as environments that profoundly affect us is analyzed by Arthur Kroker, who discusses how McLuhan merged literary principles with a historical methodology to study media.
Critical reception of McLuhan’s work was mixed. While some praised his foresight in examining popular culture and media's societal impacts, others criticized his style and perceived inaccuracies. McLuhan's works were often seen as provocative "probes" rather than definitive theses, aiming to stimulate dialogue about media's role in society, as highlighted by Anthony Quinton. Despite criticisms, he is recognized for his pivotal role in highlighting the interplay between communication and culture, with his collected letters further clarifying his theories, as reviewed in Letters of Marshall McLuhan.
Contents
- Principal Works
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Essays
- Marshall McLuhan with Gerald E. Stearn (interview date June 1967)
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Comparing McLuhan's Vision of an Electronic 'Global Village' to Utopian Literature
(summary)
In the following essay, which was originally published in The Nation in November 1971, he compares McLuhan's vision of an electronic 'global village' to worldviews expressed in Utopian literature.
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Marshall McLuhan: An Academic Sheep in Tom Wolfe's Clothing
(summary)
Quinton maintains that McLuhan is "an academic sheep in Tom Wolfe's clothing" whose theories are neither radical nor couched in a very original manner.
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Arthur Kroker (essay date 1985)
(summary)
Kroker evaluates McLuhan's contributions to the study of technology and some of his theories' shortcomings, emphasizing how McLuhan transposed literary principles into a historical methodology for analyzing media. He discusses McLuhan's view that all media profoundly affect us and that understanding social change requires knowledge of how media function as environments.
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Letters of Marshall McLuhan
(summary)
In the following review, Fawcett offers a favorable appraisal of McLuhan's collected letters, arguing that McLuhan is among the small company of intellectual geniuses Canada has produced and that his letters provide major clarifications of his theoretical work.
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Assessing McLuhan's Impact on Western Culture
(summary)
Bliss is a Canadian historian and educator who specializes in the history of business, economics, and modern medicine. In the following essay, he assesses McLuhan's impact on Western culture.
- Further Reading