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Strate, Lance and Edward Wachtel (Eds.). The Legacy of
McLuhan.
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| Article Type: | Book review |
| Subject: | Books (Book reviews) |
| Author: | Palakeel, Joseph |
| Pub Date: | 12/01/2008 |
| Publication: | Name: Communication Research Trends Publisher: Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture Audience: Academic Format: Magazine/Journal Subject: Sociology and social work Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2008 Centre for the Study of Communication and Culture ISSN: 0144-4646 |
| Issue: | Date: Dec, 2008 Source Volume: 27 Source Issue: 4 |
| Topic: | NamedWork: The Legacy of McLuhan (Essay collection) |
| Persons: | Reviewee: Strate, Lance; Wachtel, Edward |
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| Accession Number: | 191350907 |
| Full Text: |
Strate, Lance and Edward Wachtel (Eds.). The Legacy of McLuhan.
Cresskill: Hampton Press, 2005. Pp. x, 373. ISBN: 1-57273-530-9 (hbk.)
$82.50, 1-57273-531-7 (pb.) $34.50. In this legendary volume of essays, McLuhan's rich and controversial legacy is explored, critiqued, and assessed by 29 leading experts from areas as diverse as communication studies, literature, art, philosophy, theology, and computer science. This anthology of essays originates from the "Legacy of McLuhan Symposium" held at Fordham University, New York on March 27-28, 1998, but not its proceedings. Although the focus of most essays is on McLuhan's content, the discussions really highlight his contributions to the future. This collection of essays is organized into six sections. The first section, "McLuhan's Message" provides a general discussion of his work, while the final section "Extensions," applies McLuhanian categories like "hot and cool," "medium is the message," "global village," to the new media such as the Internet, digital media, and hypertext. Section 4 "Letters and Law" explores the literary, humanistic, and Christian connections of his ideas. Section 3, "Art and Perception," has an inspiring exploration by E. Wachtel on the role of perception. Other essays, however, do not reach "the heart of McLuhan" as claimed. Section 5, "Communication and Culture," "covers the sector of scholarship that McLuhan is best known for" (p. 14). One would expect to see more in this section than what is offered. Gozzi's article on hot and cool media in the light of metaphor theory offers something new. The most interesting part, to my perspective, is Section 2 on "The Media on McLuhan." Here we find genuine reactions to the Mcluhanisme in the writings of five media professionals. Neil Hickey and Michael J. O'Neill try to validate the McLuhanian reflections in the light of current socio-political and cultural events, while Mark Dery looks for traces of Romanticism in McLuhan; Kitman and Dobbs take a humorous stand. The essays in this volume definitely highlight the legacy of McLuhan and its relevance today. They invite us to go beyond McLuhanism, which idolizes McLuhan and sanctifies his aphorisms. Among these essays, Strate's discussion on media as the vehicle of transcendence and Meyrowitz's exploration of theory of history based on changes in the media and technology stand out as capturing best the spirit and legacy of McLuhan. Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) is a central figure in the field of communication studies. He is an intellectual icon and an international celebrity, characterized as "Media Guru" and/or "Oracle of the Electronic age." His legacy is better appreciated as how he made media a popular subject and how he proclaimed all tools and technologies of the word (a phrase from his student, Walter J. Ong) as media. His apparent projection of communication media as prime mover is a stepping stone to understanding about the way communication influences society. The emerging media ecology approach (H. Innis and others) of this volume leads us evidently beyond technological determinism and aphorisms like "medium is the message." Today it makes more sense to say "medium is the milieu." I have no doubt that this volume of essays has succeeded in showing the broad and far-reaching impact of the thoughts, writings, and life of Marshall McLuhan, one of the most influential intellectuals of the 20th century. With or without his aphorisms, McLuhan's legacy is accompanying us into the 21st century. --Dr. Joseph Palakeel IMPACT, India |
| Gale Copyright: | Copyright 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. |