Letters of Marshall McLuhanCalled an `oracle' and `sage', the involuntary founder of an unofficial cult, Marshall McLuhan (1911-80) was one of the most famous men of the 1960s, from whose name a French word (mcluhanisme) was coined. His reputation as a communications theoriest was established by two of many books. The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man (1962) explains how society and human psychology were changed when pre-literate oral culture was supplanted by the invention of the phonetic alphabet and a manuscript culture gave way to the Gutenberg era of movable type, the printing press, and mass-produced books. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964), McLuhan's most widely read book, explores the next development, the electronic age, and its effects on individuals and society.The early letters in this collection offer a fascinating background to McLuhan's intellectual growth; the bulk of them, however, contain many interesting discussions of ideas that later became subjects in his books. His correspondents include some of the best-known names of the sixties and seventies and range from Woody Allen to Tom Wolfe. Heavily annotated, the letters are arranged in three sections, each with a period introduction:1931-1936 takes McLuhan through the University of Manitoba and Cambridge University.1936-1946 covers one year's teaching at the Univeristy of Wisconsin; two years at Saint Louis University; one year, with his bride, at Cambridge for work on his Ph.D.; four more years at Saint Louis; and two years as Assuption College, Windsor, Ontario. These letters include a large correspondence with Wyndham Lewis.The last section begins in 1946, when McLuhan went to the University of Toronto. (Two years later he began a long correspondence with Ezra Pound.) Covering the period of McLuhan's fame, it ends in September 1979 with a letter to Pierre Elliott Trudeau, written shortly before McLuhan had a stroke that rendered him speechless.These letters have been selected from a large collection, now in the Public Archives of Canada, assembled by Corinne McLuhan, McLuhan's widow, and Matie Molinaro, his literary agent. |
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acoustic American Apropos asked awareness become Cambridge Canada Canadian Catholic Centre century Claude Bissell communication Cordially Corinne Cornell University Library course created critic culture Dear Lewis December effects electric electronic Elsie McLuhan English environment Eric essay Ezra Pound Finnegans Wake French Giovanelli Gutenberg Galaxy Hall human interest James Joyce January John Joyce June language lecture letter literary literature live look Marshall McLuhan matter Maurice McLuhan means Mechanical Bride medium Mother nature never perception person Pierre Elliott Trudeau poem poetry political present problem Professor published radio Saint Louis University sense sensory Sheila Watson simply social society space St Louis St Michael's College T.S. Eliot things tribal Trinity Hall Trudeau Understanding Media University of Toronto visual Walter week writing wrote Wyndham Lewis York