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Electric Language: Understanding the Message
Marhsall McLuhan's son, Eric, presents a collection of essays on the ever-changing world of media that represents the new modes of expression. Color photos.
Contents:
Introduction: The Language of Media --
Arachne or Penelope: Queen of the Net, Mistress of the Web? --
Virtual Reality: Mime Without Walls --
A Word About Tetrade --
Teleconferencing: The Global Theater --
S --
An Ancient Quarrel in Modern Europe --
and the Enduring Mystery of English --
Blind Spots, and the Rear-view Mirror --
Postliteracy --
Three New Styles: The Poetics of the PC --
The Revenge of Echo: Suicide as a Means of Survival --
Anatomy of the Electric Crowd --
Synesthesia and Society.
Contents:
Introduction: The Language of Media --
Arachne or Penelope: Queen of the Net, Mistress of the Web? --
Virtual Reality: Mime Without Walls --
A Word About Tetrade --
Teleconferencing: The Global Theater --
S --
An Ancient Quarrel in Modern Europe --
and the Enduring Mystery of English --
Blind Spots, and the Rear-view Mirror --
Postliteracy --
Three New Styles: The Poetics of the PC --
The Revenge of Echo: Suicide as a Means of Survival --
Anatomy of the Electric Crowd --
Synesthesia and Society.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
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22 people want to read
About the author
Eric McLuhan
28 books7 followersEric Mcluhan was an internationally-known and award-winning lecturer on communication and media.
Dr. McLuhan had over 40 years of teaching experience in various subjects ranging from high-speed reading techniques to literature, communication theory, media, culture, and Egyptology. He has taught at many colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.
In addition to co-authoring “Laws of Media” in 1988 and working closely for many years with his father, the late Marshall McLuhan, he has also been deeply involved in exploring media ecology and communications. In 1980, with Roger Davies, Dr. McLuhan developed the Thinking and Writing workshops, and together they founded McLuhan & Davies Communications, Inc., to help business professionals with their writing and editing skills.
His research and thinking has been published in books, magazines, and journals covering topics such as media, communications, perception, and literature since 1964. He was researching the nature and structure of renaissances, including the one that now envelops us: the first global renaissance. His most recent published work includes On Media Ecology (Explorations in Media Ecology, Vol. 5, No. 3), Theories of Communication (Hampton Press, 2011), and Media and Formal Cause (NeoPoesis Press, 2011).
He passed away on May 18, 2018 in Bogota, Columbia.
Dr. McLuhan had over 40 years of teaching experience in various subjects ranging from high-speed reading techniques to literature, communication theory, media, culture, and Egyptology. He has taught at many colleges and universities throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.
In addition to co-authoring “Laws of Media” in 1988 and working closely for many years with his father, the late Marshall McLuhan, he has also been deeply involved in exploring media ecology and communications. In 1980, with Roger Davies, Dr. McLuhan developed the Thinking and Writing workshops, and together they founded McLuhan & Davies Communications, Inc., to help business professionals with their writing and editing skills.
His research and thinking has been published in books, magazines, and journals covering topics such as media, communications, perception, and literature since 1964. He was researching the nature and structure of renaissances, including the one that now envelops us: the first global renaissance. His most recent published work includes On Media Ecology (Explorations in Media Ecology, Vol. 5, No. 3), Theories of Communication (Hampton Press, 2011), and Media and Formal Cause (NeoPoesis Press, 2011).
He passed away on May 18, 2018 in Bogota, Columbia.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 23, 2023
Eric's insights are relevant to the things that we see and hear today. The book is beautifully designed, and the writing is clearer compared to other works of Mcluhan.
There are loads of great ideas in this I think anyone would be surprised at how Mcluhan's framework corresponds to the current social media environment even though it was written over 20 years ago. I think if you are producing content, or involved in the production of content producing technology, the concepts outlined are worth keeping in mind. So for example Eric talks about how in the age of teleconferencing, as a result of sense-ratios, and complicated dynamics between how media technology affects our notions of privacy and identity, production values, and production sense come to the fore
(effectively anticipating the rise of "the making of" type content, and "behind the scenes" influencer content).
The radical shortening of sentences (Twitter, Instagram headlines) is also discussed in the book (again, a decade before the internet format we are familiar with today) is also discussed here in detail. I guess this is something that's worth exploring in today's age of chat GPT where we are seeing a resurgence in long-form.
There are loads of great ideas in this I think anyone would be surprised at how Mcluhan's framework corresponds to the current social media environment even though it was written over 20 years ago. I think if you are producing content, or involved in the production of content producing technology, the concepts outlined are worth keeping in mind. So for example Eric talks about how in the age of teleconferencing, as a result of sense-ratios, and complicated dynamics between how media technology affects our notions of privacy and identity, production values, and production sense come to the fore
(effectively anticipating the rise of "the making of" type content, and "behind the scenes" influencer content).
The radical shortening of sentences (Twitter, Instagram headlines) is also discussed in the book (again, a decade before the internet format we are familiar with today) is also discussed here in detail. I guess this is something that's worth exploring in today's age of chat GPT where we are seeing a resurgence in long-form.
May 9, 2022
The book is cool, however, some of its predictions didn't age well. Also the layout makes it impossible to read. The illustrator was a dick.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews