Marshall Mcluhan

"The medium is the message."

Stumbled across the work of Marshal Mcluhan last week and quickly became immersed in his ideas. Although controversial for his time, and politically incorrect in retrospect, many of his theories about the relationship between communication and culture have stood the test of time.

I've learned most about Mcluhan from the wikipedia article about him, and recommend this as a starting point for those interested in learning more about him. He's famous for the coining the phrases "The medium is the message" and "the global village." Much of Mcluhan's work is embodied in sounds bites or catch phrases which he coined.

The wikipedia article led me to the Canadia Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) digital archives on Mcluhan. Mcluhan became an iconic "philosopher of pop culture" in Canada during the 60's and 70's, often making TV and radio appearances. As demonstrated by his employment with the advertising industry later in his career, Mcluhan did not hesitate to exploit the media he criticized.

Through a youtube video search, I came across this debate between Mcluhan and author/activist Normal Mailer.



In the videos of Mcluhan, I'm struck by his rhetoric. With a background in literature and educated at Cambridge, his tone seems emblematic of academicians of his time, embued with all the authority of modernism, decisive and unwavering. The medium (i.e. 1960's TV and radio), as well as the way Mcluhan spoke, locate him in his particular generation of intellectuals. Since so many of his ideas have remained current while his rhetoric has lapsed, I would argue his rhetorical style has become iconic, imbued with a high degree of truth value/modality . The medium is old, the message remains salient.

I was delighted to find that a record had been produced in the late '60's of Mcluhan's quotes affected mixed with avante garde music concrete. Listen to one side of the record here:

http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/oOoD88jKCJA/

Quotes from this era often appear remixed into drum and bass, a music which is itself both futuristic and familiar. I find it fascinating that Mcluhan's quotes had already gained such popular currency during the peak of his career.

Despite my affinity for Mcluhan, some of his language poses deep academic problems. For example, his use of the term "tribal man" may have been acceptable in the 1960's, but would probably be objectionable to anthropologists today. Furthermore, his dichotomy between the Orient and the West is blatant reductionism, and he can be identified clearly as an orientalist in this sense.

I'm particularly interested in his designation of the terms "hot" and "cool" media, cool media referring to media which fully engrosses one fully in a state of detached concentration. He says he takes the term from jazz and popular music, and relates it to the Hindu concept of non-attachment. Mcluhan's use of the term "cool" connects his ideas about African American music and culture, Oriental religion, and new media in ways that are both troubling and insightful. Note that in his interviews, the word "hip" is used to designate another meaning of cool, i.e. popular and progressive.

However, his theory and speculation about the future of media and technology have been proven correct. He anticipated an information culture facilitated by a global system of circuits, essentially the internet, as early as 1965. And his consultation with the advertising industry resulted in decades of effected communications strategies. Thus, Mcluhan has been dubbed a "soothsayer" and "founding father" by contemporary media and communications theorists. To honor his legacy is to acknowledge both his significant contributions to the study of media, communication, culture and technology; as well as his brilliant yet problematic rhetoric.