Contemporary Communication Theories

1
Contemporary Communication Theories

• A. Goldrick-Jones
• Centre for Academic Writing
• 786-9324 rm 3G08

2
Week 10 Mass Media

• Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) technological
  determinism

3
Week 10 Mass Media

• Most famous McLuhanism the medium is the
  message (Wood, pp. 240-41)

Click on the phone for a second view of what this
means
4
Week 10 Mass Media

• McLuhans concept of technological determinism
• Media shape how we think, feel, and act (Wood, p.
  238).
• Technology, specifically media, creates both
  extensions and amputations of human
  experience (Federman, 2004)

5
Week 10 Mass Media

• To understand McLuhans technological
  determinism
• Know the four epochs tribal/oral, literate,
  print, electronic (Wood, pp. 238-40).
• You may find this third-party PowerPoint
  presentation useful as well (Univ. of Southern
  Maine)

6
Week 10 Mass Media

• To understand McLuhans technological
  determinism
• Try and test the aphorism/idea that the medium is
  the
• Message ?

7
Week 10 Mass Media

• To understand McLuhans technological
  determinism
• Or that the medium is the
• Massage ?

8
Week 10 Mass Media

• Or that the medium is the
• Message?
• Massage?
• Mass-Age ?
• Should we take this
• seriously?
• Go here for an audio analysis
• of this and other McLuhan
• concepts (youll need RealPlayer).

9
Week 10 Mass Media

• Finally, to understand McLuhans technological
  determinism
• You need to distinguish between media that are

hot
cool
10
Week 10 Mass Media

• HOT MEDIA provide most or all of the info you
  need to understand the message/ massage/mass-age
  requiring limited effort to interpret (Wood,
  p. 242).

11
Week 10 Mass Media

• COOL MEDIA require you to fill in information or
  interact in some way they demand involvement
  (Wood, p. 242).

12
Week 10 Mass Media

• Go here for a brief radio clip of McLuhan
  discussing hot and cool media (CBC
  Archives).
• Here is a short
• discussion of these
• two concepts
• (for Wilfred Laurier
• Univ.).

13
Week 10 Mass Media

• Some major criticisms of technological
  determinism
• Academically suspect (aphorisms, puns,
  overstating causes effects)
• Overly deterministic
• Does not differentiate between content form and
  media form
• Claims to be value-free
• For more details, see Wood pp. 243-44 and
  Munday, 2003.

14
Week 10 Mass Media

• And now--this McLuhan as pop idol
• The Marshall McLuhan scene in Woody Allens
  1977 film Annie Hall (audio clip with transcript)
• The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan (requires
  QuickTime, Windows Media Player, or RealPlayer)
• Marshall McLuhan Miscellany