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/lit/ - Literature

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12924476 No.12924476 [Reply] [Original]

a) Where do I start with Marshall McLuhan? Mechanical Bride? The Medium is the Message? Explain your answer.

b) Should I start with Marshall McLuhan? Why or why not?

>> No.12924534

>Where do I start with Marshall McLuhan?
Understanding media. I didn't start with that but I wish I did

>> No.12924664

>>12924534
Thank, I just bought it. Any recs for where to go after, if I am so inclined?

>> No.12924810

>>12924664
start with his short documentry.

Move onto the Gutenberg Galaxy

>> No.12924837

>>12924664
i started with understanding media and moved on to Gutenberg Galaxy

it takes the ideas of understanding media and focuses in on the consequences of print as a medium, this makes it more in depth but it can be extremely dry at some parts, it's still great through

>> No.12924897

>>12924810
>hort documentry.
Name please.

>>12924837
Looking at his oeuvre, this is probably the route I shall take.

>> No.12924898
File: 152 KB, 607x1024, Book0095_1024x1024.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
12924898

The Medium is the massage
Understanding Media

Then watch ALOT of TV interviews and read up some articles that seem interesting from the internet and:
https://mcluhangalaxy.wordpress.com/

After that I would suggest Gutenberg, HOWEVER, Mcluhan is a tough nut to crack and it is actually very useful to read secondary sources to get anywhere, these sources are either provided in his books as the references he gives or are study guides and his colleagues.

Walter Ong and Innis provide the more scientific side of this drama while stuff like pic related reminds you that for all the cool stuff Mcluhan produced, he was still really obscure(for his own good reasons).

The more you put into him, the more you read the things he references, the better you understand him, he really does force your attention if you seek to "get" him.

>> No.12924911

>>12924897
>Name please.
The Medium Is The Massage

>> No.12924916

>>12924911
Found it. The imagery of this documentary is absolute kino.

>> No.12924943

>>12924898
>>12924476
I should also answer your second question.
Mcluhan is cool and all, but I wouldn't have started him when I did, I think he should be contrasted with alot of other perspectives and thinkers.

He's great, but he's also alot of work and doesn't like to be systematic. He's thought provoking, but you get into the habit of giving him too much credit for things that should really be explored in other ways.
As I wrote, I believe that the more of the influences that you read, the better you understand him, words that made sense in a very simple, universal way suddenly turn into thoughful statements.

I'm not sure how much I've got out of reading him, I'm sure that if I press on I'll get more, but that would be just because I would read more.

>> No.12925427

>>12924911
Watched this. Was cool but kind of a scattershot of ideas, somewhat unfocused. I liked it.

>>12924943
>other perspectives and thinkers
Like who? I've read Debord, Adorno and Baudrillard. Many others, too, but those are the one's I've read who speak most directly to mass culture and society.

>> No.12925443

>>12925427
Ortega y Gaset, Ellul, and brainlet Chomsky come to mind.

>> No.12925467

Have any of you read Neil Postman? He did a book on TV's effect on the modern psyche, and mentioned McLuhan a ton. Is that what he's all about too? How technology shapes the way we think?

>> No.12925479

>>12925443
>>12925467
Alright it looks like I've opened a can of worms here:
Where do I start with:
a) Ortega y Gaset
b) Ellul
c) Postman

>> No.12925488

>>12925479
Oh and I forgot to mention Christopher Lasch. He's insightful too.

>> No.12925572

>>12925479
Lol, I'm the second guy you quoted, don't get ahead of yourself. I've only read Amusing Ourselves to Death which is good, but it's not that deep on a theoretical side and mostly just informs you of America's literary tradition that has been more or less lost to technology. Interesting and worth reading, but I'm sure there's another author out there who has articulated these changes and gone really in depth with it, since that book is mostly broad background info.