This article was written by Marshall McLuhan, but edited by Kelly Askew and Richard R. Wilk from the book, "The Anthropology of Media: A Reader." This reading was assigned on September 15th.
Marshall McLuhan has been a staple in history for many other theorists and has produced one of most well thought out theories, that "The Medium is the Message." Throughout the article, McLuhan attempts to explain what is meant by his coined phrase. Mcluhan describes that the media we are exposed to on a day to day basis is forced upon us without our full knowledge. He says that it is the medium that shapes and controls us because of the implicated aspects that are associated with every form of mediums. He uses the word medium alot while describing the actual host of the media instead of the actual media that is being perceived. McLuhan claims that what we are seeing or reading or simply viewing has less of an impact than the way it is presented to us. For example, a staged play could have the most terrible script but as long as the actors are able to convey the message coherently and without bias, then the medium shall prevail over the media because of the highly importance that is carried along with the message and medium. I found this article to slightly confusing, however, from reading other pieces of McLuhans work makes me understand that he is just a complex writer and does not want to give a direct answer or response because there are much too many possible outcomes or answers to every question.
No comments:
Post a Comment