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The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man
Since its first appearance in 1962, the impact of The Gutenberg Galaxy has been felt around the world. It gave us the concept of the global village; that phrase has now been translated, along with the rest of the book, into twelve languages, from Japanese to Serbo-Croat. It helped establish Marshall McLuhan as the original 'media guru.' More than 200,000 copies are in print. The reissue of this landmark book reflects the continuing importance of McLuhan's work for contemporary readers.
294 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1962
About the author
Marshall McLuhan
171 books811 followersHerbert Marshall McLuhan was a Canadian philosopher whose work is among the cornerstones of the study of media theory. He studied at the University of Manitoba and the University of Cambridge. He began his teaching career as a professor of English at several universities in the United States and Canada before moving to the University of Toronto in 1946, where he remained for the rest of his life. He is known as the "father of media studies".
McLuhan coined the expression "the medium is the message" in the first chapter in his Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man and the term global village. He predicted the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it was invented. He was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, though his influence began to wane in the early 1970s. In the years following his death, he continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles. However, with the arrival of the Internet and the World Wide Web, interest was renewed in his work and perspectives.
McLuhan coined the expression "the medium is the message" in the first chapter in his Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man and the term global village. He predicted the World Wide Web almost 30 years before it was invented. He was a fixture in media discourse in the late 1960s, though his influence began to wane in the early 1970s. In the years following his death, he continued to be a controversial figure in academic circles. However, with the arrival of the Internet and the World Wide Web, interest was renewed in his work and perspectives.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 89 reviews
February 21, 2019
I wasn’t expecting this to be nearly as good as it was. There are a couple of ideas that are really interesting here. One is that technologies extend our senses and faculties and therefore make us superhuman. So, will we can walk without technology with our legs, the technology of a bike means we can have ‘better’ legs, a train means even more so, and a car more again – with each being a kind of improvement on our ‘legs’. The same is true of what television does for our sight or the telephone for our voice and ears.
But this improvement in our abilities is only one aspect of what any new technology does for us – it also changes our environment. When we change our world, we change ourselves. This book is basically an explanation of what the printing press did to change our world. And pretty much that can be summed up in one word – everything.
He quotes Hegel at one point here that the owl of Minerva spreads its wings at dusk. That is, that we only ever understand a phase of history when we have lived through it pretty much to the end. McLuhan says we are standing at the end of the era of Gutenberg galaxy, since we are now tentatively entering the electronic age. This means that we can finally see what the Gutenberg age did for us. One of the most interesting things he says about this is that printing obviously made books more accessible – but the real achievement wasn’t books and reading per se, but rather that the big change brought about by printing was qualitative, and not just quantitative. We had books before the revolution, hand-written manuscripts – but after the revolution we not only had more books, but those books could also reproduce images, rather than just words. And the availability of reproduceable images meant science and engineering could progress, literally changing the world. This was not really something that could be done in an age of manuscripts.
He discusses the relationship between reason and writing here too – again, all very interesting – but the bit of this I found particularly good was the idea that nationalism required the printing press. The Westphalian nation state is only a couple of hundred years old and it is already in its death throws (violent as these are). I think people struggle to believe that nations are so ‘young’. But it is surprising that they ever caught on. I mean, for most of our history we were much more likely to be killed by the people who lived right up close to us (in the next town or city) than by people who lived hundreds or thousands of miles away. So, it was the people of our ‘nation’ who were most likely to kills us. That means that the power of the printing press to create national feelings was even more remarkable – given, you know, Athens and Sparta and so on.
This is a fascinating book – and much more interesting if, like me, most of what you know of McLuhan’s ideas is exhausted by his ‘global village’ catchphrase.
But this improvement in our abilities is only one aspect of what any new technology does for us – it also changes our environment. When we change our world, we change ourselves. This book is basically an explanation of what the printing press did to change our world. And pretty much that can be summed up in one word – everything.
He quotes Hegel at one point here that the owl of Minerva spreads its wings at dusk. That is, that we only ever understand a phase of history when we have lived through it pretty much to the end. McLuhan says we are standing at the end of the era of Gutenberg galaxy, since we are now tentatively entering the electronic age. This means that we can finally see what the Gutenberg age did for us. One of the most interesting things he says about this is that printing obviously made books more accessible – but the real achievement wasn’t books and reading per se, but rather that the big change brought about by printing was qualitative, and not just quantitative. We had books before the revolution, hand-written manuscripts – but after the revolution we not only had more books, but those books could also reproduce images, rather than just words. And the availability of reproduceable images meant science and engineering could progress, literally changing the world. This was not really something that could be done in an age of manuscripts.
He discusses the relationship between reason and writing here too – again, all very interesting – but the bit of this I found particularly good was the idea that nationalism required the printing press. The Westphalian nation state is only a couple of hundred years old and it is already in its death throws (violent as these are). I think people struggle to believe that nations are so ‘young’. But it is surprising that they ever caught on. I mean, for most of our history we were much more likely to be killed by the people who lived right up close to us (in the next town or city) than by people who lived hundreds or thousands of miles away. So, it was the people of our ‘nation’ who were most likely to kills us. That means that the power of the printing press to create national feelings was even more remarkable – given, you know, Athens and Sparta and so on.
This is a fascinating book – and much more interesting if, like me, most of what you know of McLuhan’s ideas is exhausted by his ‘global village’ catchphrase.
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June 20, 2023
Gutenbergova galaksija – nastajanje tipografskog čoveka je izašla 1962. i bilo je oprečnih stavova oko knjige. Tvrdilo se da Makluan preuveličava značaj uticaja tehnologije na čoveka, dok su drugi bili skloni da ga proglase za vesnika novog, informatičkog doba. Sa svojevrsnim nastavkom ovog dela, Poznavanje medija-čovekovih produžetaka, autor uspeva da objasni detaljnije upliv medija i tehnologije uopšte u ljudski život, što se u nekim slučajevima i pokazalao kao tačno i nakon njegove smrti.
Odmah na početku knjige objašnjava šta znači pojam Galaksije iz naslova i da se može zameniti rečju sredina. Makluan opisuje veliki uticaj ostvaren pronalaskom štamparije i kako je nakon fonetskog pisma to u stvari najveća invencija u istoriji. Na nekim mestima, raspravlja sa Luisom Mamfordom (mada ga više pominje u knjizi Poznavanje medija), da su i fonetsko pismo i štamparija bitniji od časovnika, za koga je ovaj drugi tvrdio da je krucijalna naprava ljudske civilizacije.
Gutenbergova galaksija je knjiga prožeta citatima i odlomcima iz drugih dela. Kao čitalački izazov najteže je bilo probijati se kroz gustu šumu citatologije (mnogo jači autorski pečat je u Poznavanju medija), na šta i pisac na nekim mestima ukazuje. Od autora pominje mnoge poznate i manje poznate književnike, stručnjake iz društvenih nauka, filozofije od kojih su čuveniji: Džejms Džojs, Frensis Bejkon, De Tokvil, Aleksander Poup...
Neobičan pogled Makluana na stvarnost je određen načinom izbora tema, od uticaja tehnologije na ljudska čula, odvajanje jednog nauštrb drugog, prelaska sa auditivne na vizuelnu kulturu i nazad; uticaj štampe na razvoj nacionalizma, tržišta, ekonomije; kako je jednoobraznost i homogena segmentiranost uticala na književnost, na poeziju, na strukturu stiha; objašnjava promenu sa rukopisne na štampanu kulturu i dalekosežne posledice od dostupnosti knjiga, gramatike i pravopisa do nekih aktivnosti kao što je pamćenje.
Mišljenja sam da Gutenbergovu galaksiju treba pročitati pre Poznavanja medija da bi se stekao uvid u čudesan svet, koji danas zovemo Tjuringova galaksija, mada bi možda trebalo da mu damo odrednicu Makluanova.
April 15, 2013
Basically what McLuhan argues in his book is that the invention and diffusion of Gutenberg's printing process marked the passage from a balanced kind of linguistic communication - where each sense was taken account of - to a tiranny of its visual component. Mobile characters, with their easy and quick reproducing capability, therefore, inadvertently brought us to cultural homogeneity and repetitivness.
This essay was first published in the early 60's and I found it an interesting and stimulating read mostly because I could draw a definite parallel between the discovery and introduction of Gutenberg's technology to that of modern computers and the Internet in the Digital Era.
I didn't give it five stars because I found it a little dull and repetitive from time to time. I must say, though, it did have some really interesting and diverse links that I enjoyed a great deal: the final Pope quote was a treat.
One last thing. I'd warn you against the italian translation: it's crap.
This essay was first published in the early 60's and I found it an interesting and stimulating read mostly because I could draw a definite parallel between the discovery and introduction of Gutenberg's technology to that of modern computers and the Internet in the Digital Era.
I didn't give it five stars because I found it a little dull and repetitive from time to time. I must say, though, it did have some really interesting and diverse links that I enjoyed a great deal: the final Pope quote was a treat.
One last thing. I'd warn you against the italian translation: it's crap.
Shelved as 'unfinished'
June 24, 2010I didn't finish this book. It was enough of a slog that I figured I'd muddle my way through it, but intersperse other books along the way, but no. I suddenly came to the realization that I had no idea what I was reading. I'd made it almost 100 pages, and all I had retained from those pages was that he starts the book discussing King Lear, but I don't know why, and that people from literary cultures apparently see differently than people from non-literary cultures. That's all. It was one of those books where you understand all the words, but ultimately have no idea what the sentence they form actually says.
It doesn't help that McLuhan made extensive use of quotations from his source material. And when I say extensive I mean both in number and in size. In many cases, he quoted several paragraphs at a time. And since most of his sources are from research papers and the like, their intended audience is experts, and possibly interested and educated amateurs. They are not directed at the average layman, and by quoting so extensively instead of synthesizing, McLuhan did not make his book very accessible. I'm not normally one to advocate dumbing things down to the lowest common denominator, but your audience does need to be taken into consideration when writing a book that, as far as I know, was intended for general consumption.
Consider the following sentence: "Of course, it could be argued that a lyric disposition to applaud the audile-tactile gropings of child and cave art betoken a naive and uncritical obsession with the unconscious modes of an electric or simultaneous culture." (83) It's probably even less clear with no context, but I honestly have no idea what that sentence means. That was what really made me realize that if nothing I'm reading means anything to me, there's simply no point in continuing.
One thing I did find interesting is that, contrary to what Nicholas Ostler said about how writing systems have never changed speech patterns, McLuhan states directly, "writing affects speech directly, not only in its accidence and syntax, but also its enunciation and social uses." (48)
Anyway, I tried this, and found that I barely understood anything in it, so I'm leaving it. Sorry, Mr. McLuhan. I'm sure your book is as genius as everyone says it is. But it's too smart for me.
It doesn't help that McLuhan made extensive use of quotations from his source material. And when I say extensive I mean both in number and in size. In many cases, he quoted several paragraphs at a time. And since most of his sources are from research papers and the like, their intended audience is experts, and possibly interested and educated amateurs. They are not directed at the average layman, and by quoting so extensively instead of synthesizing, McLuhan did not make his book very accessible. I'm not normally one to advocate dumbing things down to the lowest common denominator, but your audience does need to be taken into consideration when writing a book that, as far as I know, was intended for general consumption.
Consider the following sentence: "Of course, it could be argued that a lyric disposition to applaud the audile-tactile gropings of child and cave art betoken a naive and uncritical obsession with the unconscious modes of an electric or simultaneous culture." (83) It's probably even less clear with no context, but I honestly have no idea what that sentence means. That was what really made me realize that if nothing I'm reading means anything to me, there's simply no point in continuing.
One thing I did find interesting is that, contrary to what Nicholas Ostler said about how writing systems have never changed speech patterns, McLuhan states directly, "writing affects speech directly, not only in its accidence and syntax, but also its enunciation and social uses." (48)
Anyway, I tried this, and found that I barely understood anything in it, so I'm leaving it. Sorry, Mr. McLuhan. I'm sure your book is as genius as everyone says it is. But it's too smart for me.
December 23, 2007
The book that really helped launch modern media studies in many ways.
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November 27, 2019McLuhan tipografik insanın oluşumunu matbaanın Gutenberg’in kullandığı teknolojiyle Batı dünyasında oluşmaya başladığı tarihten günümüze tek ele alarak anlatıyor.
Basın devrimiyle insanın, toplumun ve devletin kültürel, sosyal, politik ve ekonomik bakışı da değişti. Yeni bir insan modeli olarak tipografik insanın oluştuğunu ortaya koyan McLuhan, “Gutenberg Galaksisi“nde kullandığı “küresel köy” kavramıyla ilk medya gurusu olma sıfatını da kazanıyor.
Elif Şeyda Doğan
İncelemenin tamamı: https://kayiprihtim.com/inceleme/gute...
Basın devrimiyle insanın, toplumun ve devletin kültürel, sosyal, politik ve ekonomik bakışı da değişti. Yeni bir insan modeli olarak tipografik insanın oluştuğunu ortaya koyan McLuhan, “Gutenberg Galaksisi“nde kullandığı “küresel köy” kavramıyla ilk medya gurusu olma sıfatını da kazanıyor.
Elif Şeyda Doğan
İncelemenin tamamı: https://kayiprihtim.com/inceleme/gute...
August 25, 2012
Clearly a work of illumination and like a polished multi-faceted crystal something you can turn around in your hand to try to see more of its brilliance and its light, the reader will derive a sense of the measure of the ratio that has been lost/superseded by what McLuhan refers to as "visual stress" in the outering by the homogenizing technology of print of one of the senses, that is, the gaining of fixed perspective for the price of losing the collective conscious. It exemplifies its own outering, of course, by this same book's printed form. But it makes an attempt to defy its own formal straight-jacket with the structural experiment of the mosaic.
There are fundamental insights in the book which are going to demand a lifetime of understanding, including considerations of formal causality; the nature of literature, manuscript and type; seizing the unconscious that was created by the loss of awareness; the rise of nationalism and the split between economics and politics; theories of communication and the imagination; etc etc.
Because of the work's provenance pre-60s of the last century, it is easy to situate its cultural milieu to just before the psychedelic experiments of the youth generation of the time, where organization man (with reference to the work of Peter Drucker) was under protest in the counter-culture that followed, some aspects of which are still with us today, certainly in the West and in various forms manifesting in the tapping of a collective consciousness. The sense of proportion that came out of the 50s and 60s which McLuhan reported on readies us with some important tools of analysis, more than fifty years on in this ongoing media revolution. The hidden subversions in McLuhan, and what he helped to encourage, are going to stay with us longer in the malleability of our proceeding within the Gutenberg galaxy, as though at last we are given the choice of a pill to swallow and with which to wake up from some manifold, as the fish in DFW's water and as Neo in The Matrix.
There are fundamental insights in the book which are going to demand a lifetime of understanding, including considerations of formal causality; the nature of literature, manuscript and type; seizing the unconscious that was created by the loss of awareness; the rise of nationalism and the split between economics and politics; theories of communication and the imagination; etc etc.
Because of the work's provenance pre-60s of the last century, it is easy to situate its cultural milieu to just before the psychedelic experiments of the youth generation of the time, where organization man (with reference to the work of Peter Drucker) was under protest in the counter-culture that followed, some aspects of which are still with us today, certainly in the West and in various forms manifesting in the tapping of a collective consciousness. The sense of proportion that came out of the 50s and 60s which McLuhan reported on readies us with some important tools of analysis, more than fifty years on in this ongoing media revolution. The hidden subversions in McLuhan, and what he helped to encourage, are going to stay with us longer in the malleability of our proceeding within the Gutenberg galaxy, as though at last we are given the choice of a pill to swallow and with which to wake up from some manifold, as the fish in DFW's water and as Neo in The Matrix.
October 1, 2014
I've never been able to precisely describe what it is McLuhan did exactly because he was so singular. In this he's called the original media guru, and that's an understatement. He was able to have the foresight to see how different technologies would effect culture as a whole. Here is the guy who coined the phrase "global village" in the '60s in reference to what he thought the effect of electronic technology would have on the world. Here's the guy who predicted (again, in the '60s) that color TV would have a great impact on sports viewing, in particular snow-related activities that are more visceral (X-Games, anyone?). Here's the guy who predicted electronics would allow tribal, third-world countries to leap into the 20th century, without having the cultural development leading up to it, thereby remaining tribal (Middle East, anyone?). And he had a bit role in "Annie Hall". So yeah, media guru but I think he might be the first Media Scientist/Philosopher.
At this point, having read a good chunk of McLuhan over the years, I have yet to run across anything of his that isn't five star. Tedious and digressive at times? Yes. Reference-dense and complex? Most definitely. But the man drops some serious knowledge on you. He's a lot like an author he quotes a lot: James Joyce. And the same rule applies: stick with him even through densest parts; you will be rewarded and possible have your mind blown. And that's definitely the case with this, one of his greatest works. In this book (1962) he predicts that electronic age will displace print just as movable type displaced the manuscript. He discusses how new technologies possess the "power to hypnotize because (they) isolate the senses" ("Will you at least stop looking at your phone when we're talking?"). And, as always, he has a great witty writing style: "A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." Highly recommended.
At this point, having read a good chunk of McLuhan over the years, I have yet to run across anything of his that isn't five star. Tedious and digressive at times? Yes. Reference-dense and complex? Most definitely. But the man drops some serious knowledge on you. He's a lot like an author he quotes a lot: James Joyce. And the same rule applies: stick with him even through densest parts; you will be rewarded and possible have your mind blown. And that's definitely the case with this, one of his greatest works. In this book (1962) he predicts that electronic age will displace print just as movable type displaced the manuscript. He discusses how new technologies possess the "power to hypnotize because (they) isolate the senses" ("Will you at least stop looking at your phone when we're talking?"). And, as always, he has a great witty writing style: "A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding." Highly recommended.
September 20, 2023
Un catholique fervent Marshall McLuhan a été en même temps le plus vieux jeu et le plus branché des pop gurus de la deuxième moitié du 20e siècle. C'est lui qui a été le premier à employer le mot "surf" (surfer) pour décrire la manière dont une personne parcourt les media électroniques à la recherche des plaisir, des idées et de l'information.
Dans "La galaxie de Gutenberg" Marshall McLuhan présente sa grande thèse que ce n'est pas le contenu du message mais son medium (presse écrite, télévision, radio, etc.) qui détermine ce qui est compris du message. Dans ce livre McLuhan essaie de démontrer que l'invention de la presse par Gutenberg a donné naissance au rationalisme, au dualisme, à la standardisation, et à l'uniformisation culturelle à l'échelle planétaire. La thèse présentée dans ce livre résiste bien a toutes les attaques depuis déjà plus qu'un demi-siècle.
Dans l'ensemble, l'imprimerie a fait plus du mal que du bien à la religion catholique parce qu'elle a véhiculé l'individualisme et de cette façon a éclaté la mentalité communautaire du christianisme moyenâgeux. Pourtant, McLuhan était très optimiste quant à l'avenir. Il croyait que les medias électronique devaient inaugurer un nouvel ère des communautés et du christianisme.
Malgré son succès énorme dans le monde anglophone, McLuhan a été boudé en France. Le premier problème sans doute a été son catholicisme. Le deuxième problème est son style scholastique ou aristotélicien. Les francais à l'époque préféraient des styles qui venaient des sciences sociaux ou la philosophie (le structuralisme, analyse postmoderne derridienne).
Dans "La galaxie de Gutenberg" Marshall McLuhan présente sa grande thèse que ce n'est pas le contenu du message mais son medium (presse écrite, télévision, radio, etc.) qui détermine ce qui est compris du message. Dans ce livre McLuhan essaie de démontrer que l'invention de la presse par Gutenberg a donné naissance au rationalisme, au dualisme, à la standardisation, et à l'uniformisation culturelle à l'échelle planétaire. La thèse présentée dans ce livre résiste bien a toutes les attaques depuis déjà plus qu'un demi-siècle.
Dans l'ensemble, l'imprimerie a fait plus du mal que du bien à la religion catholique parce qu'elle a véhiculé l'individualisme et de cette façon a éclaté la mentalité communautaire du christianisme moyenâgeux. Pourtant, McLuhan était très optimiste quant à l'avenir. Il croyait que les medias électronique devaient inaugurer un nouvel ère des communautés et du christianisme.
Malgré son succès énorme dans le monde anglophone, McLuhan a été boudé en France. Le premier problème sans doute a été son catholicisme. Le deuxième problème est son style scholastique ou aristotélicien. Les francais à l'époque préféraient des styles qui venaient des sciences sociaux ou la philosophie (le structuralisme, analyse postmoderne derridienne).
February 23, 2020
The theme, namely, the impact of print and written language on the formation of modern subjectivity, I am very sympathetic to. As tales of the great divide that separate the Western Mind from the Eastern one go, the difference between ideographic and alphabetic writing is among the more credible ones.
Yet I was sorely disappointed: most of all because McLuhan's schematic account falls prey to his own vanity, slicing the world into gigantic blocs at the outset, which more or less can be reduced to primitive, emotional orality vs western rational visuality. The book is then a sprawling list of enticingly titled sections, wasted by an indulgent display of irrelevant erudition, too many repetitions and a lack of syntheses. As the reader progress, the sections reveal themselves as a series of contortions, some more unlikely than others, to try and fit his abundant source material into this system, at the best of times offering stimulating insights, but often veering on non-sense (i.e. the Soviet Union, unlike America, is dominated by orality...) or simple bad-faith (i.e. dismissal of Korean alphabet and printing).
In some sense the book looks like the decade it comes from: the notion that visual modernity is being eclipsed by a return to the primitive immediacy of orality, sounds very sixties, and a little post-modern. In other ways, the naive black and white cosmology which McLuhan embarks to paint smacks of the conservatism of the early XXth century, and of the anti-romanticism of Maurras, Babbit or T.S. Eliot. This is perhaps, inadvertently, the most stimulating aspect of the book: a reminder of how much modernism there is in the apocalyptic mood of the sixties.
Yet I was sorely disappointed: most of all because McLuhan's schematic account falls prey to his own vanity, slicing the world into gigantic blocs at the outset, which more or less can be reduced to primitive, emotional orality vs western rational visuality. The book is then a sprawling list of enticingly titled sections, wasted by an indulgent display of irrelevant erudition, too many repetitions and a lack of syntheses. As the reader progress, the sections reveal themselves as a series of contortions, some more unlikely than others, to try and fit his abundant source material into this system, at the best of times offering stimulating insights, but often veering on non-sense (i.e. the Soviet Union, unlike America, is dominated by orality...) or simple bad-faith (i.e. dismissal of Korean alphabet and printing).
In some sense the book looks like the decade it comes from: the notion that visual modernity is being eclipsed by a return to the primitive immediacy of orality, sounds very sixties, and a little post-modern. In other ways, the naive black and white cosmology which McLuhan embarks to paint smacks of the conservatism of the early XXth century, and of the anti-romanticism of Maurras, Babbit or T.S. Eliot. This is perhaps, inadvertently, the most stimulating aspect of the book: a reminder of how much modernism there is in the apocalyptic mood of the sixties.
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October 22, 2016McLuhan is to information what a centrifuge is to salad: you're going to see the same quotes and the same analogies and the same aphorisms pass by in slightly different contexts to stress slightly different things. This time around, there's less focus on literary criticism and more on general philosophical and scientific advances.
November 19, 2016
The printing press created mass ideology. True enough.
February 23, 2023
Difícil de leer pero merece la pena. Un libro revelador que te hace realmente entender mejor la Historia de la humanidad.
Hasta que no lo lees, no comprendes la importancia que la imprenta ha tenido y cómo los medios de comunicación (incluyendo como medios las esculturas, catedrales, papiros, libros, telégrafo,...) reconfiguran la mente, comportamiento y capacidades del ser humano, en base a la ampliación de sus sentidos.
Sin imprenta la sociedad era oral y entre otras cosas increíbles, no existía la perspectiva en la pintura. La lectura antes de la imprenta estaba limitada y la gente leía en voz alta. Todo entraba por el oído, y lo que se escribía era para ser escuchado.
Los libros modernos permitieron no solo democratizar la información, si no hacerla repetible y sobre todo introspectiva (tu y tu libro en la soledad).
¿Por qué los romanos no descubrieron la maquina de vapor? La ilustración y las innovación de SXVII en adelante están totalmente relacionados con el nuevo medio (el libro), que permitía difundir de forma barata y rápida el conocimiento. Antes, escribir ciertas cosas en papiro era inviable por caro y tedioso y además no se difundía, se quedaba en las bibliotecas de ricos y religiosos.
Todo esto, que así dicho es obvio, yo al menos no lo terminaba de ver hasta que leí La Galaxia Gutemberg.
Hasta que no lo lees, no comprendes la importancia que la imprenta ha tenido y cómo los medios de comunicación (incluyendo como medios las esculturas, catedrales, papiros, libros, telégrafo,...) reconfiguran la mente, comportamiento y capacidades del ser humano, en base a la ampliación de sus sentidos.
Sin imprenta la sociedad era oral y entre otras cosas increíbles, no existía la perspectiva en la pintura. La lectura antes de la imprenta estaba limitada y la gente leía en voz alta. Todo entraba por el oído, y lo que se escribía era para ser escuchado.
Los libros modernos permitieron no solo democratizar la información, si no hacerla repetible y sobre todo introspectiva (tu y tu libro en la soledad).
¿Por qué los romanos no descubrieron la maquina de vapor? La ilustración y las innovación de SXVII en adelante están totalmente relacionados con el nuevo medio (el libro), que permitía difundir de forma barata y rápida el conocimiento. Antes, escribir ciertas cosas en papiro era inviable por caro y tedioso y además no se difundía, se quedaba en las bibliotecas de ricos y religiosos.
Todo esto, que así dicho es obvio, yo al menos no lo terminaba de ver hasta que leí La Galaxia Gutemberg.
October 29, 2017
In some sense, this is a difficult book. Its main theme is interesting in itself, but as the title points out, it’s a Galaxy, or a myriad of connections that are simply to great to properly grasp it fully. If we take the analogy of the galaxy even further, it becomes obvious that even McLuhan’s analysis of the Gutenberg influence in Western culture is somewhat doomed to failure: we are simply too close to its effects, too deep inside it, to understand it clearly — just like trying to understand the Milky Way from inside is also a baffling task.
Being a difficult subject is a kind of excuse for the somewhat opaqueness of this work. McLuhan, in the essay that ends the book, states that “[t]he present volume has employed a mosaic pattern of perception and observation up till now” (MCLUHAN, 1962). This mosaic pattern is an attempt to cover the vast subject with meaningful quotes from different areas of study, using the quotes to provide examples of how typography changed humankind’s perception of things, altering the relation with understanding and the world at large — making of the whole of humanity a uniform entity. However, even though we can understand the approach McLuhan chose to cover this subject, this mosaic technique is also very confusing at times and can often mislead from the author’s original intention.
My feeling is that at some point even McLuhan himself was confused as to where he was trying to go with the text he had produced thus far. However, I’m not trying to diminish his work or to state that it could be done in some other, more competent way. As stated before, the subject matter, being a galaxy of consequences, it’s simply too overwhelming to be completely grasped.
But, in the end, this book can provide some light to those who want to understand history’s movements and changes in a different light, one that focus on the technological changes of information sharing, thus showing a different perspective that takes away history from the hands of some enlightened individuals and places it in the domain of the accidents that simple inventions with huge penetration have had in society at large. This book is also good to direct your attention the work of Harold Innis that provides much more insight into this theme of information technology, media shaping and history making. As McLuhan himself states, “Harold Innis was the first person to hit upon the process of change as implicit in the forms of media technology. The present book is a footnote of explanation to his work.” (MCLUHAN, 1962).
So is it worth reading? As always, it depends. If you’re studying media, media development, media implications, and so on, probably yes; if you’re just want to gloss over some of the ideas herein contained, probably not — you’ll be better served if you read a summary or a thorough review of this work.
Being a difficult subject is a kind of excuse for the somewhat opaqueness of this work. McLuhan, in the essay that ends the book, states that “[t]he present volume has employed a mosaic pattern of perception and observation up till now” (MCLUHAN, 1962). This mosaic pattern is an attempt to cover the vast subject with meaningful quotes from different areas of study, using the quotes to provide examples of how typography changed humankind’s perception of things, altering the relation with understanding and the world at large — making of the whole of humanity a uniform entity. However, even though we can understand the approach McLuhan chose to cover this subject, this mosaic technique is also very confusing at times and can often mislead from the author’s original intention.
My feeling is that at some point even McLuhan himself was confused as to where he was trying to go with the text he had produced thus far. However, I’m not trying to diminish his work or to state that it could be done in some other, more competent way. As stated before, the subject matter, being a galaxy of consequences, it’s simply too overwhelming to be completely grasped.
But, in the end, this book can provide some light to those who want to understand history’s movements and changes in a different light, one that focus on the technological changes of information sharing, thus showing a different perspective that takes away history from the hands of some enlightened individuals and places it in the domain of the accidents that simple inventions with huge penetration have had in society at large. This book is also good to direct your attention the work of Harold Innis that provides much more insight into this theme of information technology, media shaping and history making. As McLuhan himself states, “Harold Innis was the first person to hit upon the process of change as implicit in the forms of media technology. The present book is a footnote of explanation to his work.” (MCLUHAN, 1962).
So is it worth reading? As always, it depends. If you’re studying media, media development, media implications, and so on, probably yes; if you’re just want to gloss over some of the ideas herein contained, probably not — you’ll be better served if you read a summary or a thorough review of this work.
October 16, 2011
This was a fun and inspiring book, and there were points at which I would have considered just giving it five stars despite some of its obvious flaws and the fact that it is quite dated. I really like the way that McLuhan constructs his narrative by quoting other writers and commenting on the quoted material. I found this to be wonderfully transparent and to give a sense of the relative weight of each author in relation to McLuhan's thought. It sometimes felt like I was reading the most enjoyable annotated bibliography ever, or a medieval text with glosses and super-glosses.
The main point of irritation for me is how McLuhan's interpretations of texts could be so loose and, honestly, lazy. Some reviewers have made mention of the dreadful King Lear episode at the beginning, but he does that to some degree all the way through, especially with Shakespeare. I'm not arguing for sticking to authorial intention, but good literary critics can sell the reader on some of the outrageous interpretations that they produce. McLuhan doesn't seem to be even trying sometimes: he just comes up with his argument in advance, looks around for a text to back it up, and doesn't bother being very selective. That was how it came across to me, at least. For someone with close ties to the discipline of literary criticism, he seems to have an especially hard time with it.
Overall, I loved the book and am now equipped with a list of other authors to check out. McLuhan is fun and has a distinctive way of writing theory that I wish more people had copied.
The main point of irritation for me is how McLuhan's interpretations of texts could be so loose and, honestly, lazy. Some reviewers have made mention of the dreadful King Lear episode at the beginning, but he does that to some degree all the way through, especially with Shakespeare. I'm not arguing for sticking to authorial intention, but good literary critics can sell the reader on some of the outrageous interpretations that they produce. McLuhan doesn't seem to be even trying sometimes: he just comes up with his argument in advance, looks around for a text to back it up, and doesn't bother being very selective. That was how it came across to me, at least. For someone with close ties to the discipline of literary criticism, he seems to have an especially hard time with it.
Overall, I loved the book and am now equipped with a list of other authors to check out. McLuhan is fun and has a distinctive way of writing theory that I wish more people had copied.
February 23, 2017
I grew up with parents who quoted "the medium is the message" and used it as part of our answering machine message, but never read any McLuhan till this one. And it isn't even the book with that quotation! Nevertheless, this was fascinating, enlightening, and challenging. A mosaic, as he calls it, of the ways that humankind and cultures have reacted to the introduction of writing -- and then the introduction of the printing press. I can see how this was revolutionary and I can also see why I didn't encounter it until grad school. But WAY cool for just thinking about everything from a different perspective.
June 22, 2020
Boring and difficult to read. There are just too many quotes, and, at least to me, it wasn't always understandable why they were there. It wasn't easy to tell what was actually important and what wasn't.
Even though I've always disliked how this book was written, I guess I understand (or at least I try...) what the author was trying to do. However, I think he executed it poorly.
Even though I've always disliked how this book was written, I guess I understand (or at least I try...) what the author was trying to do. However, I think he executed it poorly.
January 8, 2022
Interesting!
July 3, 2023
This is a classic. It introduces ground breaking ideas on the historical importance of the printing press, and predicts parallels in the societal impact of computers. Yet, there is reason that McLuhan is more often quoted (almost always "the medium is the message" than actually read at length. The book may have been ground breaking at its time, but reading it today, I was more stricken by its lazy generalizations and sweeping statements. German culture is less impacted buy reading and more unequal than British, writing Chinese does not really make you literate, etc. (I summarize, but I don't exaggerate that much here). There are better books on this subject these days.
February 23, 2020
I get what he's doing; I just don't care for what he's doing.
March 16, 2024
Мені здається, що Маршал Маклуген є досить невідомою фігурою в українському пуб��ічному інтелектуальному дискурсі. Тим не менш, все частіше я чую про 60ті та 70ті роки минулого сторіччя, як це було на Заході, чи то з подкастів (Kult podcast) чи з перекладів (Сюзан Зонтаґ). Це час, коли відбувається перехід модерності у постмодерн, і коли у нас є хоч трохи накопичена власна національна інтелектуальна спадщина модерності, то наша постмодерність і її розуміння, як на мене, є біднішою і розкидана тонкими мазками по буденності пізнього совка та часу після його розпаду. Тому, враховуючи цивілізаційний вибір України, який потребує розуміння Західного світу більш глибше ніж просто ринкові відносини, роботи Маклугена, на мою субʼєктивну думку, є дуже цікавими. Вони здатні занурити читача у світ координат Західного світу і роблять його більш зрозумілим.
Моєю першо�� прочитаною книгою Маклугена стала «Understanding Media: The Extension of Men». Праця вразила своєю ідеєю-поглядом на історію людства як розвитку технологій передачі інформації, медіа технологій. У цій історії кожна така технологія є розширенням тої чи іншої функції людини, наприклад, як колесо розширює функцію ніг та пришвидшує передачу інформації, так само письмо розширює памʼять та робить можливим збереження більшої кількості інформації. Це книга, із-за якої Маклугена вважають батьком студій про медіа і взагалі вона вартує окремого огляду (який я так і не написав протягом цих чотирьох років з моменту як я її прочитав), але вона важлива тим, що є продовженням фундаментальної ідеї яку Маклуген заклав у своїй попередній книзі — «Галактиці Гутенберга», про яку і піде мова.
Головна ідея тут полягає у тому, що будь яка технологія змінює співвідношення взаємодії наших сенсорних чуттів з навколишнім світом, що, як результат, змінює і саму свідомістю людини. А це означає, що той свій який творить людина навколо так само зазнає змін, відображаючи зміни свого творця. Найпростіший приклад — одяг, будучи захищеним від холоду чи навіть пазурів тварин, людина перетворюється на мисливця, світ який вона бачить стає ти, що вона досліджує, а не те від чого вона втікає. Очевидно? Так. Але в цьому і задача яку ставить перед собою автор — щоб люди були постійно свідомі цьому впливу.
Технологію, яку обирає Маклуген для дослідження є друкарський верстат, винайдений у 1440 році, що стає точкою відліку сучасного цивілізаційного світу. Ця тема є надзвичайно цікавою, адже з винаходом друкарського верстату почалося інформаційна революція, відразу після якої починається відлік модерності епохою Відродження. І цей цивілізаційній континуум триває до сьогоднішнього часу, доби Інтернету та соціальних мереж. Ця доба доречі, як багато науковців стверджують, була влучно передбачена Маклугеном у його образі «глобального села», що він вперше використав саме у цій книзі.
Магістеський ступінь у англознавстві дав Маклугену надзвичайну спритність навігувати крізь століття літератури, він пише книгу, яка за своїм дизайном та структурою є чимось небаченим до цього — це том тексту без заголовків та секцій, який йде безперервним потоком з використанням купи цитат на посилань на літературу 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 та 20 сторічь з виділеними максимами з одного чи двох речень через кожні 5-10 сторінок. Форма так само важлива як і її зміст. Це є одним із постулатів Маклугена, котрий він буде розвивати протягом своєї карʼєри, що звучить як «media is the message»: те у якій формі приходить до нас інформацій впливає на людину і формує її так само як і сам зміст. Як найпростіший приклад, який описаний у книзі, до винайдення друкарського верстату читання в університетах відбувалося вголос, як прояв середньовічної культури усної словесності, котра вмерла з появою дешевої книги з лінійною розмежованими сторінками та однорідними літерами римської абетки.
Коли читаєш книгу, то відчуття, наче гортаєш сторінки Вікіпедії, переходячи по гіперпосиланням цитат одна за одною. Книга залишає вибір: чи ковзати від одного аркушу до іншого, або ж з цікавістю вичитувати нотатки, відкладати нові книги та відкривати для себе безмежно великий світ інтерпретацій літератури починаючи з доби Ренесансу. Цікаво, пізнавально, весело. І хоч місцям буває стає важко тримати у голові ту велику картинку, про які веде мову автор, цитуючи чи то Шекспіра чи Блейка чи Бекона чи Декарта чи Франсуа Рабле, тим не менш Маклугену вдається передати дух епох, який був формований друкарством і тим, як ця технологія впливала на свідомість людей та життя Європи. Я спробую описати ту загальну нитку про яку говорить Маклуген, але з застереженням, що це буде безкінечно обділено у порівняні з тим усим про що говориться у книзі і як воно складається одне в одне.
Початок є у фіванському міті про Кадма, який вважався греками зачинателем писемності і цивілізації. Міт розказує про зуби вбитого Кадмом дракона, які він засіює за волею Атени та з яких постають воїни-спартої, котрі разом з Кадмом стають зачинателями Фів. Маклуген бачить зуби дракона алегорією фонетичного алфавіту, який греки запозичили у фінікійців. Фонетичний алфавіт, як технологія, уможливим розділити звук, форму та сенс, ізолювавши одне від одного. Таким чином твориться важливість візуального порядку однорідних, подібних одну на одну, хоч і різних, ��ітер. Простір навколо набуває лінійності, час стає послідовним і все це формує світ у якому існують Греки. Тим не менш, ця технологія (алфавіт та писемність) виявилася смертоносною для Греків, зуби дракона посіяли розбрат, міф про золотий вік Атен часів Перікла ніколи не буде досягнуто знову, а Платонівський Сократ, який не полишив жодної писемної згадки по собі, стане уособленням людини на межі доби культури усної словесності (Гомера) і доби візуальної культури однорідності (Арістотель), що творить імперію Македонського та еллінський світ. Все це поглинається Римо. Рим ступає ще далі у застосуванні ідей лінійності і та однорідності, що проявляється у військові (легіони) та цивільній сфері (римські закони). Таким чином античний світ опиняється у замкненому на собі просторі, світ, що має межі і все, що існує поза ним — не існує взагалі. (Дуже вестреніський погляд, скажете ви, і думаю будете праві, та це не робить книгу менш цікавою). Рим не мав паперу, як і Греки, але мав папірус, який дозволяв виконувати і тримати усю імперську бюрократичну машину. Та проблеми з поставками папірусу роблять внесок у деградацію імперської машини, що зрештою закінчується 476 роком. Темні часи, які вже не такі і темні, коли подивитися на розвиток машинерії та інженерної думки, повертають людей знову до світу фольклору, усної творчості та сприйняття світу на слух, а не на зір, як наслідку неграмотності. Навколо феодали, селяни та монастирі як осередки освіти — так тривало майже 1000 років, аж допоки не був винайдений друкарський верстат, що по своїй структурі нагадує і сам принципи роботи фонетичного алфавіту — з окремих частин і їх порядку твориться сенс та функція. З одного боку це відноситься до будь якого інженерного винаходу, але з появою здатності механічного відтворення інформації людство ступає до нові ери, на що здатний далеко не кожен інженерний виріб. Ця епоха буде тривати майже 500 років до 1905, коли Ейнштейн розширює наше розуміння про світ і принципи лінійності, послідовності та однорідності, що тепер стають перешкодою на шляху ширшого розуміння про світ, що є більшим ніж Галактика Гутенберга. Ця галактика створила нації, діалекти, імперії, Ньютона, ринкову економіку, ідею прикладного знання як єдиного можливого знання і саме цю Галактику описує Маклуген, наводячи думки та посилання на інших авторів, як та чи інша частина цієї галактики стала можливою тільки завдяки появі друкарського верстату та його впливу на саму людину.
Моєю першо�� прочитаною книгою Маклугена стала «Understanding Media: The Extension of Men». Праця вразила своєю ідеєю-поглядом на історію людства як розвитку технологій передачі інформації, медіа технологій. У цій історії кожна така технологія є розширенням тої чи іншої функції людини, наприклад, як колесо розширює функцію ніг та пришвидшує передачу інформації, так само письмо розширює памʼять та робить можливим збереження більшої кількості інформації. Це книга, із-за якої Маклугена вважають батьком студій про медіа і взагалі вона вартує окремого огляду (який я так і не написав протягом цих чотирьох років з моменту як я її прочитав), але вона важлива тим, що є продовженням фундаментальної ідеї яку Маклуген заклав у своїй попередній книзі — «Галактиці Гутенберга», про яку і піде мова.
Головна ідея тут полягає у тому, що будь яка технологія змінює співвідношення взаємодії наших сенсорних чуттів з навколишнім світом, що, як результат, змінює і саму свідомістю людини. А це означає, що той свій який творить людина навколо так само зазнає змін, відображаючи зміни свого творця. Найпростіший приклад — одяг, будучи захищеним від холоду чи навіть пазурів тварин, людина перетворюється на мисливця, світ який вона бачить стає ти, що вона досліджує, а не те від чого вона втікає. Очевидно? Так. Але в цьому і задача яку ставить перед собою автор — щоб люди були постійно свідомі цьому впливу.
Технологію, яку обирає Маклуген для дослідження є друкарський верстат, винайдений у 1440 році, що стає точкою відліку сучасного цивілізаційного світу. Ця тема є надзвичайно цікавою, адже з винаходом друкарського верстату почалося інформаційна революція, відразу після якої починається відлік модерності епохою Відродження. І цей цивілізаційній континуум триває до сьогоднішнього часу, доби Інтернету та соціальних мереж. Ця доба доречі, як багато науковців стверджують, була влучно передбачена Маклугеном у його образі «глобального села», що він вперше використав саме у цій книзі.
Магістеський ступінь у англознавстві дав Маклугену надзвичайну спритність навігувати крізь століття літератури, він пише книгу, яка за своїм дизайном та структурою є чимось небаченим до цього — це том тексту без заголовків та секцій, який йде безперервним потоком з використанням купи цитат на посилань на літературу 15, 16, 17, 18, 19 та 20 сторічь з виділеними максимами з одного чи двох речень через кожні 5-10 сторінок. Форма так само важлива як і її зміст. Це є одним із постулатів Маклугена, котрий він буде розвивати протягом своєї карʼєри, що звучить як «media is the message»: те у якій формі приходить до нас інформацій впливає на людину і формує її так само як і сам зміст. Як найпростіший приклад, який описаний у книзі, до винайдення друкарського верстату читання в університетах відбувалося вголос, як прояв середньовічної культури усної словесності, котра вмерла з появою дешевої книги з лінійною розмежованими сторінками та однорідними літерами римської абетки.
Коли читаєш книгу, то відчуття, наче гортаєш сторінки Вікіпедії, переходячи по гіперпосиланням цитат одна за одною. Книга залишає вибір: чи ковзати від одного аркушу до іншого, або ж з цікавістю вичитувати нотатки, відкладати нові книги та відкривати для себе безмежно великий світ інтерпретацій літератури починаючи з доби Ренесансу. Цікаво, пізнавально, весело. І хоч місцям буває стає важко тримати у голові ту велику картинку, про які веде мову автор, цитуючи чи то Шекспіра чи Блейка чи Бекона чи Декарта чи Франсуа Рабле, тим не менш Маклугену вдається передати дух епох, який був формований друкарством і тим, як ця технологія впливала на свідомість людей та життя Європи. Я спробую описати ту загальну нитку про яку говорить Маклуген, але з застереженням, що це буде безкінечно обділено у порівняні з тим усим про що говориться у книзі і як воно складається одне в одне.
Початок є у фіванському міті про Кадма, який вважався греками зачинателем писемності і цивілізації. Міт розказує про зуби вбитого Кадмом дракона, які він засіює за волею Атени та з яких постають воїни-спартої, котрі разом з Кадмом стають зачинателями Фів. Маклуген бачить зуби дракона алегорією фонетичного алфавіту, який греки запозичили у фінікійців. Фонетичний алфавіт, як технологія, уможливим розділити звук, форму та сенс, ізолювавши одне від одного. Таким чином твориться важливість візуального порядку однорідних, подібних одну на одну, хоч і різних, ��ітер. Простір навколо набуває лінійності, час стає послідовним і все це формує світ у якому існують Греки. Тим не менш, ця технологія (алфавіт та писемність) виявилася смертоносною для Греків, зуби дракона посіяли розбрат, міф про золотий вік Атен часів Перікла ніколи не буде досягнуто знову, а Платонівський Сократ, який не полишив жодної писемної згадки по собі, стане уособленням людини на межі доби культури усної словесності (Гомера) і доби візуальної культури однорідності (Арістотель), що творить імперію Македонського та еллінський світ. Все це поглинається Римо. Рим ступає ще далі у застосуванні ідей лінійності і та однорідності, що проявляється у військові (легіони) та цивільній сфері (римські закони). Таким чином античний світ опиняється у замкненому на собі просторі, світ, що має межі і все, що існує поза ним — не існує взагалі. (Дуже вестреніський погляд, скажете ви, і думаю будете праві, та це не робить книгу менш цікавою). Рим не мав паперу, як і Греки, але мав папірус, який дозволяв виконувати і тримати усю імперську бюрократичну машину. Та проблеми з поставками папірусу роблять внесок у деградацію імперської машини, що зрештою закінчується 476 роком. Темні часи, які вже не такі і темні, коли подивитися на розвиток машинерії та інженерної думки, повертають людей знову до світу фольклору, усної творчості та сприйняття світу на слух, а не на зір, як наслідку неграмотності. Навколо феодали, селяни та монастирі як осередки освіти — так тривало майже 1000 років, аж допоки не був винайдений друкарський верстат, що по своїй структурі нагадує і сам принципи роботи фонетичного алфавіту — з окремих частин і їх порядку твориться сенс та функція. З одного боку це відноситься до будь якого інженерного винаходу, але з появою здатності механічного відтворення інформації людство ступає до нові ери, на що здатний далеко не кожен інженерний виріб. Ця епоха буде тривати майже 500 років до 1905, коли Ейнштейн розширює наше розуміння про світ і принципи лінійності, послідовності та однорідності, що тепер стають перешкодою на шляху ширшого розуміння про світ, що є більшим ніж Галактика Гутенберга. Ця галактика створила нації, діалекти, імперії, Ньютона, ринкову економіку, ідею прикладного знання як єдиного можливого знання і саме цю Галактику описує Маклуген, наводячи думки та посилання на інших авторів, як та чи інша частина цієї галактики стала можливою тільки завдяки появі друкарського верстату та його впливу на саму людину.
September 12, 2020
Chock full of ideas--so I give it four stars. However, be forewarned that a knowledge the visual arts is necessary for the early part of the book and something of music for the later parts. This and the fact that he doesn't very clearly explain things makes this a frustrating read. The frequent and exceedinlgy long quotes in small print helped only somewhat. For example, he mentions (can't locate it now because there is no index in this edition) that the ancient Greeks skirted with Desargues' Theorem which concerns intersections of conic sections, but doesn't at all explain why. I'm guessing McLuhan thinks it important because according to the History of Mathematics by Cooke, "Desargues was among the first to view lines as infinitely long, in the modern way." The reader would be spared a lot of trouble if this were just mentioned in a footnote or something; mathematics is a very broad subject and I doubt all mathematicians are familiar with the theorem. I felt he does this all too often with poetry, the arts and music..
are a few quotes which likewise are intriguing, but not entirely clear to me:
Discussing Riesmman's inner direction, McLuhan writes "Inner direction towards remote goals is inseparable from print culture and the perspective and the vanishing point organization of space that are part of it." [p.214]
"The same consumer urge is only now reaching Europe and England after the Second World War. it is a phenomenon that goes with high-intensity visual stress and organization of experience." [p. 215]
"It was a prime effect of print in altering human sense ratios, that it substituted static point of view for insight into causal dynamics." [p. 217]
The quotes just give a hint of why the book is in fact fascinating and has gotten so many positive reviews.He also has very great material on, among others, Ramis and the spirit of quantification and Aretino, the Scourge of Princes, who quoting Samuel Putnam, his translator, calls him the "first literary realist, the first journalist, the first publicist, the first art critic." [p. 194]
The very clearest statement of his thesis is actually in the last chapter, entitled "The Galaxy Reconsidered or the Plight of Mass Man in an Individualist Society"
The reader knows McLuhan is onto something, but I don't think he made his case as well as he could have, at least for the average reader.
are a few quotes which likewise are intriguing, but not entirely clear to me:
Discussing Riesmman's inner direction, McLuhan writes "Inner direction towards remote goals is inseparable from print culture and the perspective and the vanishing point organization of space that are part of it." [p.214]
"The same consumer urge is only now reaching Europe and England after the Second World War. it is a phenomenon that goes with high-intensity visual stress and organization of experience." [p. 215]
"It was a prime effect of print in altering human sense ratios, that it substituted static point of view for insight into causal dynamics." [p. 217]
The quotes just give a hint of why the book is in fact fascinating and has gotten so many positive reviews.He also has very great material on, among others, Ramis and the spirit of quantification and Aretino, the Scourge of Princes, who quoting Samuel Putnam, his translator, calls him the "first literary realist, the first journalist, the first publicist, the first art critic." [p. 194]
The very clearest statement of his thesis is actually in the last chapter, entitled "The Galaxy Reconsidered or the Plight of Mass Man in an Individualist Society"
The reader knows McLuhan is onto something, but I don't think he made his case as well as he could have, at least for the average reader.
January 28, 2019
This book is not without flaws. In being so focused on the given topic of how literacy and the way we communicate information effect our way of thinking, it creates a narrative which subjugates everything to the spread of the written word and ignores the wider cultural, linguistic, racial etc. context of various phenomena. There are also some things that the author apparently just doesn't understand, like how the phonetic alphabet isn't the ideal form of recording certain languages such as Chinese. But also, precisely because McLuhan is so focused on exploring the subject, he does it really well. The aspects of the book that are good are really good. There is a lot of food for thought even if you disagree with the author. The book explores the way people thought and read in the past, something people don't often think about, it contrasts the traditional and modern societies, it tells history, talks about what changes took us from there to here and how some people took advantage of them perpetuating them, it compares different societies around the globe, it speculates about where we are going, what we strive for, what we want, what we need... A lot has happened in more than half a decade since this book was written and faced with even newer changes the book may seem obsolete to some, but the historical evaluations still stand and the future is something nobody can predict with certainty so we shouldn't blame the author for not doing so. The book doesn't offer a definitive idea of what we need in the future, just an empty feeling that something of value was lost in the past, but I think this should serve as an inspiration to the reader. The style and structure of the work I don't know what to think of, it is daunting, some may find it infuriating and it makes it hard to navigate through the book, but it is unique and through this mosaic (as he calls it) the author expresses himself metatextually, pointing out that because of the invention of print we don't look at the bigger picture often enough. This book is not for everyone, not easy to read and generally not without flaws as said in the beginning, but overall it is a really good book.
September 15, 2016
Totally brilliant. The idea that civilization has been made captive of the processes uncovered by printed phonetic language... mass standardization... is a tough one to grasp. That what we humans have taught one another to adhere to and appreciate is actually that which currently holds us back from evolving knocks me over with it's obviousness. It's too in-your-face simple to be true. But is a totally plausible diagnosis of causes of contemporary commoner alienation and elite tyranny.
His ideas need to be brought up back into social discussion to raise awareness and start the process of evolving human consciousness from an adolescent technological tyrant civilization to an adult egalitarian sustainable society. Indeed "the medium is the message" until we become masters of our communication mediums and use them like tools to manifest a sustainable occupation of Earth. I have had enough of the 1% casting down behavioral edicts of obedience that were spawned by the technology of the printed word which is now to me identifiable as the culprit. It is also part of the cure as can be voiced here, in phonetic print. Evolve. Thank you Mr. McLuhan!
His ideas need to be brought up back into social discussion to raise awareness and start the process of evolving human consciousness from an adolescent technological tyrant civilization to an adult egalitarian sustainable society. Indeed "the medium is the message" until we become masters of our communication mediums and use them like tools to manifest a sustainable occupation of Earth. I have had enough of the 1% casting down behavioral edicts of obedience that were spawned by the technology of the printed word which is now to me identifiable as the culprit. It is also part of the cure as can be voiced here, in phonetic print. Evolve. Thank you Mr. McLuhan!
September 13, 2023
THE MEDIA CRITIC’S COMMENTS ON THE IMPACT OF PRINTED MEDIA
Author Marshall McLuhan wrote in the introductory section of this 1962 book, “[This book] develops a mosaic or field approach to its problems. Such a mosaic image of numerous data and quotations in evidence offers the only practical means of revealing causal operations in history… Technological environments are not merely passive containers of people but are active processes that reshape people and other technologies alike… Printing from movable types created a quite unexpected new environment---it created the PUBLIC… What we have called ‘nations’ in recent centuries did not, and could not, precede the advent of Gutenberg technology any more than they can survive the advent of electric circuitry with its power of totally involving all people in all other people. The unique character of the ‘public’ created by the printed word was and intense and visually oriented self-consciousness, both of the individual and the group… Its theme is the extension of the visual modalities of continuity, uniformity, and connectedness to the organization of time and space alike. Electric circuitry does not support the extension of visual modalities in any degree approaching the visual power of the printed word.”
He asserts, “manuscript culture is intensely audile-tactile compared to print culture; and that means that detached habits of observation are quite uncongenial to manuscript cultures, whether ancient Egyptian, Greek, or Chinese or medieval. In place of visual detachment the manuscript world puts empathy and participation of all the senses. But non-literate cultures experience such an overwhelming tyranny of the ear over the eye that any balanced interplay among the senses is unknown at the auditory extreme, just as balanced interplay of the senses became extremely difficult after print stepped up the visual component in Western experience to extreme intensity.” (Pg. 39)
He states, “certainly the electro-magnetic discoveries have recreated the simultaneous ‘field’ in all human affairs so that the human family now exists under conditions of a ‘global village.’ We live in a single constricted space resonant with tribal drums. So that concern with the ‘primitive; today is as banal as nineteenth-century concerns with ‘progress,’ and as irrelevant to our problems.” (Pg. 43)
He says, “The Gutenberg Galaxy is concerned to show why alphabetic man was disposed to desacralize his mode of being.” (Pg. 88)
He explains, “It was learning from [H.J.] Chaytor how literary conventions are affected by the oral, written, or the printed forms, that suggested to me the need for [this book]. Medieval language and literature were somewhat in the state of the present movie or the TV show in that…” (Pg. 109)
He asserts, “To the oral man the literal is inclusive, contains all possible meanings and levels. So it was for Aquinas. But the visual man of the sixteenth century is impelled to separate level from level, and function from function, in a process of specialist exclusion. The auditory field is simultaneous, the visual mode is successive.” (Pg. 137)
He observes, “Print, as it were, translated the dialogue of shared discourse into packaged information, a portable commodity. It put a spin or bias in language and human perception which Shakespeare studies here as “Commodity.’ How could it do otherwise? It created the price system. For until commodities are uniform and repeatable the price of an article is subject to haggle and adjustment. The uniformity and repeatability of the book not only created modern markets and the price system inseparable from literacy and industry.” (Pg. 198-199)
He observes, “The divorce of poetry and music was first reflected by the printed page.” (Pg. 240) Later, he adds, “The portability of the book, like that of easel-painting, added much to the new cult of individualism.” (Pg. 248)
He says, “In our time it is extremely evident that man is language, though he now recognizes many non-verbal languages as well as the language of forms. And this structuralist approach to experience engenders the awareness that ‘unconsciousness in relation to the one who knows is nonexistence.’ This is to say, that in so far as print structured language and experience and motivation in new ways not recognized in conscious ways, life was impoverished by mesmerism.” (Pg. 277)
He says, “Just before revolutions the image of the immediate past is stark and firm, perhaps because it is the only area of sense interplay free from obsessional identification with new technological forms. No more extreme instance of this delusion would be mentioned than our present image of TV as a current variation on the mechanical, movie pattern of processing experience by repetition. A few decades hence it will be easy to describe the revolution in human perception and motivation that resulted from beholding the new mosaic mesh of the TV image. Today it is futile to discuss it at all.” (Pg. 323)
He concludes, “It has been the business of [this book] to examine only the mechanical technology emergent from our alphabet and printing press. What will be the new configurations of mechanisms and of literacy as these older forms of perception and judgment are interpenetrated by the new electric age? The new electric galaxy of events has already moved deeply into the Gutenberg galaxy. Even without collision, such co-existence of technologies and awareness brings trauma and tension to every living person. Our most ordinary and conventional attitudes seem suddenly twisted into gargoyles and grotesques. Familiar institutions and associations seem at times menacing and malignant. These multiple transformations, which are the normal consequence of introducing new media into any society whatever, need special study and will be the subject of another volume on Understanding Media in the world of our time.” (Pg. 330)
This book will be of most interest to those studying the development of McLuhan’s thought.
Author Marshall McLuhan wrote in the introductory section of this 1962 book, “[This book] develops a mosaic or field approach to its problems. Such a mosaic image of numerous data and quotations in evidence offers the only practical means of revealing causal operations in history… Technological environments are not merely passive containers of people but are active processes that reshape people and other technologies alike… Printing from movable types created a quite unexpected new environment---it created the PUBLIC… What we have called ‘nations’ in recent centuries did not, and could not, precede the advent of Gutenberg technology any more than they can survive the advent of electric circuitry with its power of totally involving all people in all other people. The unique character of the ‘public’ created by the printed word was and intense and visually oriented self-consciousness, both of the individual and the group… Its theme is the extension of the visual modalities of continuity, uniformity, and connectedness to the organization of time and space alike. Electric circuitry does not support the extension of visual modalities in any degree approaching the visual power of the printed word.”
He asserts, “manuscript culture is intensely audile-tactile compared to print culture; and that means that detached habits of observation are quite uncongenial to manuscript cultures, whether ancient Egyptian, Greek, or Chinese or medieval. In place of visual detachment the manuscript world puts empathy and participation of all the senses. But non-literate cultures experience such an overwhelming tyranny of the ear over the eye that any balanced interplay among the senses is unknown at the auditory extreme, just as balanced interplay of the senses became extremely difficult after print stepped up the visual component in Western experience to extreme intensity.” (Pg. 39)
He states, “certainly the electro-magnetic discoveries have recreated the simultaneous ‘field’ in all human affairs so that the human family now exists under conditions of a ‘global village.’ We live in a single constricted space resonant with tribal drums. So that concern with the ‘primitive; today is as banal as nineteenth-century concerns with ‘progress,’ and as irrelevant to our problems.” (Pg. 43)
He says, “The Gutenberg Galaxy is concerned to show why alphabetic man was disposed to desacralize his mode of being.” (Pg. 88)
He explains, “It was learning from [H.J.] Chaytor how literary conventions are affected by the oral, written, or the printed forms, that suggested to me the need for [this book]. Medieval language and literature were somewhat in the state of the present movie or the TV show in that…” (Pg. 109)
He asserts, “To the oral man the literal is inclusive, contains all possible meanings and levels. So it was for Aquinas. But the visual man of the sixteenth century is impelled to separate level from level, and function from function, in a process of specialist exclusion. The auditory field is simultaneous, the visual mode is successive.” (Pg. 137)
He observes, “Print, as it were, translated the dialogue of shared discourse into packaged information, a portable commodity. It put a spin or bias in language and human perception which Shakespeare studies here as “Commodity.’ How could it do otherwise? It created the price system. For until commodities are uniform and repeatable the price of an article is subject to haggle and adjustment. The uniformity and repeatability of the book not only created modern markets and the price system inseparable from literacy and industry.” (Pg. 198-199)
He observes, “The divorce of poetry and music was first reflected by the printed page.” (Pg. 240) Later, he adds, “The portability of the book, like that of easel-painting, added much to the new cult of individualism.” (Pg. 248)
He says, “In our time it is extremely evident that man is language, though he now recognizes many non-verbal languages as well as the language of forms. And this structuralist approach to experience engenders the awareness that ‘unconsciousness in relation to the one who knows is nonexistence.’ This is to say, that in so far as print structured language and experience and motivation in new ways not recognized in conscious ways, life was impoverished by mesmerism.” (Pg. 277)
He says, “Just before revolutions the image of the immediate past is stark and firm, perhaps because it is the only area of sense interplay free from obsessional identification with new technological forms. No more extreme instance of this delusion would be mentioned than our present image of TV as a current variation on the mechanical, movie pattern of processing experience by repetition. A few decades hence it will be easy to describe the revolution in human perception and motivation that resulted from beholding the new mosaic mesh of the TV image. Today it is futile to discuss it at all.” (Pg. 323)
He concludes, “It has been the business of [this book] to examine only the mechanical technology emergent from our alphabet and printing press. What will be the new configurations of mechanisms and of literacy as these older forms of perception and judgment are interpenetrated by the new electric age? The new electric galaxy of events has already moved deeply into the Gutenberg galaxy. Even without collision, such co-existence of technologies and awareness brings trauma and tension to every living person. Our most ordinary and conventional attitudes seem suddenly twisted into gargoyles and grotesques. Familiar institutions and associations seem at times menacing and malignant. These multiple transformations, which are the normal consequence of introducing new media into any society whatever, need special study and will be the subject of another volume on Understanding Media in the world of our time.” (Pg. 330)
This book will be of most interest to those studying the development of McLuhan’s thought.
March 6, 2011
Yes, at first glance this book is an incoherent mess. The basic syntactical unit of the book is the two page micro essay and there are no clear chapter/subject divisions. McLuhan also introduces a number of idiosyncratic terms which he doesn't bother to define. But at around 100 pages things start to come together and McLuhan's commentary on the implications of movable type and the book as commodity(and the role of the written word in the articulation of nations, sophisticated economies, globalism, etc) becomes compelling. By the end it seems essential. And, in general, it seems like you have to know McLuhan if you want to think about the impact of a particular media on culture. Which is what a whole shitload of people are doing now with the whole digital humanities thing.
July 20, 2012
Very insightful look at how information technologies shape all other aspects of culture. I didn't follow everything in the book, but I did get a lot of ideas. I originally got interested in this book when the World Wide Web was beginning. Although McLuhan wrote in 1960, what he saw about the electronic age beginning with the telegraph, radio, film, and TV has continued and intensified with the Internet. This book helped me see a lot of my assumptions about the way the world is based on print culture, and helped me appreciate some seemingly silly Internet trends as more meaningful as new ways of thinking and communicating.
April 9, 2009
Read all the way through this a couple of times and just had it sitting around and picked it up to read random spots. Lots of great ideas about antique perspectives. Got me into don quixote. Its really impossible to talk about McLuhan without sounding trite. If you don't catch on right away just by every McLuhan book and listen to every McLuhan recording on ubuweb and watch Videodrome and eventually you'll be sucked in by his ideas and dialectic and you'll never be the same.
May 10, 2011
An astonishing book, a dry one, about the effects of the Gutenberg press, a device that shocked the church, brought about new religions, started wars and changed the human race. In different sections, the Greeks complain that more books will make readers lazy. Readers won't have to memorize a book because the presence of more books will make that unnecessary. In other sections, the author talks about the fact that Balinese plays, not books, teach the Balinese what is right and wrong.
August 8, 2012
As with all of his works, this one, as well as "Understanding Media, The Extensions of Man", had a huge impact on me. They're not the easiest books to read, but they will give you a new appreciation of just how important experience retrieval is; which is to say the major means of how we store and retrieve experience over time has a tremendous impact on how we think of, and see, the world around us.
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