The Medium Is the Massage
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OCLC 308404 | |
The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects is a book
photographer Tony Rollo.The book is 160 pages in length and composed in an
Origin of the title
The title is a play on McLuhan's often-quoted phrase "The medium is the message." The book was initiated by Quentin Fiore.[1] McLuhan adopted the term "massage" to denote the effect of numerous media in how they massage the human sensorium.
According to biographer, W. Terrence Gordon: However, the FAQ section on the website maintained by McLuhan's estate says Gordon's interpretation is incomplete and makes its leap of logic for McLuhan to leave it as is:[3]
Why is the title of the book The Medium is the Massage and not The Medium is the Message? The title is a mistake. After the book came back from the typesetter's, it had on the cover 'Massage'. The title was supposed to read The Medium is the Message, but the typesetter made an error. After McLuhan saw the typo, he exclaimed, 'Leave it alone! It's great, and right on target!' Now there are four readings for the last word of the title, all of them accurate: Message and Mess Age, Massage and Mass Age.
The "Environment"
"Because McLuhan's terminology is specific in his use of “environment” and “counterenvironment” from 1965 onward (when he returns to this concept as a way of clarifying his saying “the medium is the message”), one must emphasize that in his usage “environment” is not essentially a spatial term, nor one that relates to nature, or even necessarily to place".[4]
Summary
Marshall McLuhan argues that technologies—from clothing to the wheel to the book and beyond—are the messages, rather than the content of the communication. Basically, in its fundamental essence, The Medium is the Massage is a graphical and creative representation of his "medium is the message" thesis explored in Understanding Media.
By
Finally, McLuhan describes points of change in how people view their universe and the ways in which those views are affected and altered by the adoption of new mainstream media. "The technique of invention was the discovery of the [19th century]," brought on by the adoption of fixed
Fiore, at the time a prominent graphic designer and communications consultant, composed the visual illustration of these effects compiled by Jerome Agel. Near the beginning of the book, Fiore adopted a pattern in which an image demonstrating a MainStream media effect was presented with a textual synopsis on the facing page. The reader experiences a repeated shifting of analytic registers—from "reading" typographic print to "scanning" photographic facsimiles—reinforcing McLuhan's argument in this book: each mainstream medium produces a different "massage" or "effect" on the human sensorium.
Related project
An
See also
- Hot and cool media
References
- ^ McLuhan & Fiore, 1967
- ^ Gordon, p. 175.
- ^ "Commonly Asked Questions about McLuhan – The Estate of Marshall McLuhan". marshallmcluhan.com. Retrieved 2019-12-04.
- ^ 1
- ^ Understanding Media, p. 68.
- ^ The Medium is the Massage, Marshall McLuhan, Quentin Fiore. John Simon, producer. Conceived and co-ordinated by Jerome Agel. Columbia Stereo CS 9501, Mono CL 2701
- ^ Marchand (1998), p.187.
Allan, Kenneth R. (30 April 2015). "Marshall McLuhan and the Counterenvironment: "The Medium Is the Massage"". Art Journal. 73 (4): 22–45. doi:10.1080/00043249.2014.1016337. Retrieved 14 October 2022.[1]
External links
- Tracks 1-2 From the LP The Medium is the Massage
- The Medium is the Massage, includes an index to the book
- ^ 1