Rereading the final chapter of Understanding Media. A tribute to Marshall McLuhan on the centenary of his birth

Authors

  • Alberto Salarelli Universidade de Parma

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2178-2075.v2i2p3-18

Keywords:

Marshall McLuhan, Media Theory, Network Society, Technopower

Abstract

The article examines the arguments made by Marshall McLuhan in the last chapter of his book Understanding Media related to the impact of information technology on social organization. Written fifty years ago, they show today, with the advent of the network society, their full value by contributing to a real “McLuhan renaissance”. Particularly this essay points out that McLuhan was not at all optimistic and enthusiastic about the computer revolution but instead, he expressed a very strong concern about the growing power of technology. This worldview relates McLuhan’s thought to the theories of contemporary authors such as Lanier, Carr and Schirrmarcher.

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Published

2011-12-09

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

SALARELLI, Alberto. Rereading the final chapter of Understanding Media. A tribute to Marshall McLuhan on the centenary of his birth. InCID: Revista de Ciência da Informação e Documentação, Ribeirão Preto, Brasil, v. 2, n. 2, p. 3–18, 2011. DOI: 10.11606/issn.2178-2075.v2i2p3-18. Disponível em: https://www.revistas.usp.br/incid/article/view/42348.. Acesso em: 29 may. 2024.