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I ) r i n t e t li n t h e L J n i t e tSl t r r t eosf A n r e r i c ao n a ! i ( l - 1 1 { e
plper
Irnirgesfronr'llrc l\lcchanicalllridc: I\ilkkne o_lInLlustrialivlan by MarsbirllMcl.uhan
c o p v r i g l tltg s l u \ ( ( i u t l l t I ' r ' tt t t i s s i o t t
For Brad
1. CloseReading
MarshallMcLuhan,from Modernism
to Media Studies
Mcluhan is a Janusfigurebetweer
who transformed "practical criticisr
I will show, in so doing, he pioneered
into its own in the last few decades,
of study (particularlyonesfocusedor
history. This chapter argues that con
back to Mcluhan and, through him,
'it
media-specificanalysiscan be understo
C l . O S TR
l HADING
ze
through
positionin judging their subject.aHis reputation has seesawed
e)ctreme
highsand lows,though it seemsto be on the upswing thesedavs.tMany
extreme
people
know Mcluhant name and cite his famous mantra--"the medium is the
few actuallyread his works and still fewer close read then.r.But,
message"-but
asI hopeto show closereading Mcluhan! seminal works from a literary perspective-inparticular,The MechanicalBride: Folkloreo.l'lntlustrialMan (ry5r),
TheGutenberg
Galaxy:Ihe Making oJ'Typographicl\4att(1962),and Utrderstonding
o.fMcrn(r964)6-provides invaluablcinsightsitrto his interMedia:TheExtensions
thc-intersection
pretative
methodologyand opensup new avenuesfbr adciressing
mediaand literary stuclies.
between
Mcluhanis a )anusfigurebetweenpast irnd present,a modcrnist New Critic
"practical criticism" into closc reading rnedia fbrms; and,
whotransfbrmecl
I will show,in so doing, he pioneereda field o1study.Media studiesonly came
intoits own in the last few decades,but as is oficn the cirsewith "new" lields
of study(particularlyonesfocusedon "new" media),it lacksa senseof its own
history.This chapterarguesthat contemporarymetlia stucliescan be tracecl
backto Mcluhan and, through him, to modernist writcrs irnd critics. Recognizingthis fhct illuminatesthe continued inlluenceof moclernismrln cligital
culture.
Amidstthe hype anclcriticism surrounclirtgMcLuhanas digitirlprophet,it is
Mcluhan
oftenforgottenthat he was, lirst ancl (bremost,an linglish prof.essor.
wastrainedin the New Criticism at Cambridge uncler L A. Richardsantl F. R.
Leavis,and he rvas dceply influencecl by this experience.Hc lclied on this
education-in pirrticular,the appreciationol nroclcrnistlitcrature irnclthe prircticeof closereading-as the fbundation fbr his criticrrl approach to rnedia. As
I will argue,he adaptedthe New Critical rnethoclof'lbctrsingon form into a
meansfor thinking critically about fbrtns of rnedia.Sustainedattentionto how he
analysis;conversely,
did soexposesclosereadingto be a morle of media-specilic
asa mocleol'closereacling./'lhis
claim
media-specific
analysiscan be understoocl
irs I cxplaineclin this book'sintroduction,
maysoundcounterintuitivebecause,
as rejectingall aspectsof mirteriality
theNewCriticismis commonlyunderstoocl
Mcluhan'stexts
in the practiceof interpretinga literary text. But closereadir.rg
challenges
this view of the New Critics by showinghow the versionof practical
criticismhe learnedat Cambridgervasalwaysabout approachingthe broadercatClose reading Mcl,trl'rans
egoryof the literary within complexnretlia ecologies.n
writingsremindsus that media-specific
analysisis asmuclr a literaryendeavoras
a technologicalone.
30
DIGITAT_N{Ot)tiRNIsN,l
UnderstandingMcluhan
standingin line at the cinema,woody Allens charactergrows increasinglyaggravatedby the man behind him explicatingloudly ancrpompouslyabout Mcluhant
theory of hot and cool metlia. Allen turns arouncland confronts the man, who
then introduceshimself asa profbssorof televisionanclculture at Columbia.Allel
critiques the professor'ssummary of Mcluhar.r anc-lthcn stepsasicleto pull into
the frame none other than Marshall Mcl.uhan himself.As if to literally ,.backup"
Allen'sinterpretation,Mcluhan walks up to the prol'essoranc.lquips, "you know
nothing of my work!" McluhaI.r'sexclamationis more than irn intellectual'.s
fantasty,on the part of Allen'.scharacter;it is actually a self'_cleprecating
comment
whose comic punch line comcs at Mcluhan's expense.I.or, even an lly Lcaguc
professorof mecliastuclicscan completelymisunderstanciMcl.uhan'.swork. His
proseis just that oblique.
I-et me pass along one more humorous story about Mcluha''.s l'amousincomprehensibility,which mecliascholirr Lance Strateshareson his blog. Strate
claimsthat lerome Agel (the proclucerof 'lhe Medium Is thc Mn.s.srrge
anclmarnyof
Mcluhan'.sother,later visual books,too) once tolclhim the fbllowing jot<e:
Q: Did you know that Mcl,uhan'sLlrderstandingMctlitthasbeentranslatecl
into twenty-two lirnguages?
A: Really?Has it beentranslateclinto Englishyet?,
Mcluhan's writing is hard to understandbecauseit is fiagmentedanclhypertextual but alsodenseanclcompact.Like much of the proseby the experimentalmoclernist writers Mcl,uhan aclmired,it clisruptsfbrmal expectations.one might even
call his style "poetic"; he certainly would. His texts clo not fbllow a clear,linear
trajectoryor build toward a singleargument.His argumentsdo not evenfit within
the confinesof a singlecodex but instcadsprawlhypertextuallyacrossnumerous
genresand media fonns-books, essays,
interviews,ancllecturescapture<lin print
and live and recordedperformances.This point is important becauseMcluhan's
provocationsunfurl into argumentsonly fbr the renderwho follows therr recursiverecombinationacrossdiversemcclialbnnats. h.rMcluhau's oeuvre,fbrm a1d
boundlessenthusiasmfor greatboo
and Dr LeavishaveProvedto be a u
.FtAI)t-\-(;
3l
32
DIGI-fAt N{OI)F.RNISM
The goal
distinction betweenpoetry and criticism, poet and critic, asunnecessary.
embodiment of interpersonalinteract
ciple of Gutenbergtechnologybecome
vinced, similarly transfbrm the ways in which we read, write, irnd think. Within
this period of massivemedial shift, Mcluhan sawhimself poised,in the languagc
Ezra Pound usesto describcthe role of the artist, as "the antennaeof the race."'7
Mcluhan writes, in words that echo Pounds,"lts alwaysbeen the artist who per-
ceivesthe alternatior.rs
in man causedby a new rneclia,who recognizesthat the
future is the present,ancluseshis work to prc'pirrethe ground tbl'it."'nMcl-uhirnin-
McLuhan'sMedia'Iheory
Mcluhan presenteda mcdia-birsed
theory o{'history,and it goessomethinglike
experiencean emergingelectronicmed
and psychicallyat the indir.idual level and also in the culture at large.He writes,
"from the invention of the alphabettherehas beena continuouscirivein the West-
ern world toward the separationof the senses,of functions,of operations,of states
'Ihe
resulting "tlpographic Man"
of emotions and politics, as rvell as of tasks.""
phasisin original).'eModernistliteratu
simultaneousaffectof technoloqical
inn
C I , O S ER I ] A D I \ G
11
pdvileges
vision over his other sensesand readsin silent isolation the static,discrete,
andlinear,alphabetictext of print. Typographicman forgoesthe real-time
embodiment
of interpersonalinteraction ascribedto oral culturesand is cut o11
fromtheholisticsensibilitiesof multisensorl'comnrunication.In McLuhan'sview
printfostersa fixed point-of-view rather than a senseof sirnultaneity;it thus supportsideologiesof individualism over tribal connection." The mechanicalprincipleof Gutenbergtechnologybecomesa stateof being and a way of seeing:"the
mostobviouscharacterofprint is repetition,just as the obviouseffcctofrepetition
ishlpnosisor obsessionl"rOr, as he more clearlyexplainsthe causalconnections,
"Theinventionof typography confirmeclirnd extendedthe new visual stressof
appliedknorvledge,providing the lirst unifbnnly lepeatableconrmodity,the hrst
assembly-line,
and the first mass-production."'a
the repercussionsof print technologyare only becorningvisible to us now, Mcl.uhan irrgues,becausewe are in
themidstof transitioningawayfiom a print-basedcultureanc.linto an electricage.
Whereas"previous technologieswere partial and fiagmentarv,"Mcluhan
writes,"the electricis total and inclusive."'5
Electronictechnologiesthus,Mcl-uhan
argues,
usherin the dawn of ir new erir.McLuhan'.s
thesisis summarizedin the fbl"lhe
lorvingstatement,taken l'rom
Medium ls the Nlossagc:
An Inyt,rttrtryoJ'fficts
(t967):"The alphabetanclprint technologyfbstereclirnd encouragccla fragmentingprocess,a processof specialismanclof detachmcnt.Irlectronictcchnologyfbs'Ihesc
tersand encouragesunification and invoh'ement."'6
new media, in some
sense,
promote a rettlrn lo atr eurlier era, ()rlc inclined torvardthc tribal t>r "the
'bur
globalvillagei'Mcluhan writes,
agetranslatesitselfbackinto the oral and au'Ihc
ditorymodesbecauseof the e.lectronic
pressureo1'simultaneityl"r elncrgencc
of electrictechnologiespromise to unify man ancl reconnectmankind. For this
reason,he writes,"the greatestof all reversalscrccurrcdwith electricity,that encled
sequence
by making things instant."'8
For the purposesof my argurnent,it is important to recognizethat Mcl.uhan
identified the decisivehistorical moment of this reversal in thc media-basecl
history he writes as taking place in the modemist period. Not only did the late
decadesof the nineteenth century and early clecirdesof the twerrtiethcentury
experiencean emergingelectronicmediatizirtion,as I suggestedin my introduction, but this technologicalf'actwas imprir.rtedand expressedin that period'sart.
Mcluhan clairnedthat modernist literatureand art hold the keysto r.rnderstanding the rnedial shift to the electronicage."Cubisrl," he declares,"by seizingon
instanttotal awareness,
suddenlyannouncedthat f/rcmediutnis the message"
(enphasisin original)." Modemist literatureanclart trirnslatedthe instantar.reous
and
simultaneousaflectof technologicalinnovirtions(suchasraclio,the telegraph,and
covery" Richardssupposedlymadetl
expresseswillingnessto considerhon
Adaptingthe NewCriticism
He wc
constitutea literary experience.
mnlly in pursuing different rvaysof "1
tou'ard analyzingmedia.
In thesenow-fhmouspedagogicalexperiments,Richardsgavehis studentspoems
PracticalCriticismwas"a compan
That
system of human endeavors?"{'
PracticalCriticism,Richardssoughtto
comparatively by consideringit as a 1
thosewho wish to discoverfor themselveswhat they think and feel about poetry
(and cognatematters)and why they shouldlike or clislikeit. ru
(.t_()stt{LrAI)tN(; 35
suggests,
will have the ellect of making literary criticism reievantnot only to
poetics
but alsoto other fbrms <lfculturalcommunication."Criticismwill justily
itselfas an applied science,"he writes, "when it is able to indicatc how irn advertisementrnaybe prolitablewithout r.recessarily
bcing crass."rl
Success
in literarv
36
DtC}ITAT_MODURNISTII
criticism dependsupoll an ability to explain how a text works, not only what it
says.As we will soon seerMcluhan takes Richardsat his word in this regard.In
his first book, 7re MecltanicalBride: Folkbre of Industrial Mon e951, Mcluhan
showsthe virlueof literarl'criticism by closereaclingadvertisementsto shgrvhon,
they work.
But beforewe return to Mcluhan, we must first attendto tire other leading
figure at cambridge who also greatly influenceclhim: F'.R.Leavis.Leavis also
practiceda lbrm of Practicalcriticism, but in waysthat distinguishedhim from
other New critics and establishedhim as a particularlyirnportant mentor lbr
the young Mcluhan. ln How to TbachReading:A prinrcr
(ry32),
-for l:zra pt>uncr
Leavispays attention and tribute to Pound as critic, which Mcluhan woukl
follow suit in doing. Leavisbeginsthat book by statingthat pound'slrow to Reatl
(1929)"has,one hopes,heenwidely read"fbr "its value"lies ir.rthe fact that "it is
a thing to quarrel with."4'1
Grappling with Pouncl'ssuggestionsabout horv-ancl
more so wlty-to reaclit.t a world thirt lacks a (lorntnon Readcror reading list is
important, Leirvisclaims, for "l.iterary history pursueclin this spirit rvill be very
different fiom the usual accunrulationof cleadanclcleadeningknowleclgeabout
authorsand periods."+s
Leirvisdescribesand disdainsthe current stateof literary studieswherein "we have,passinglbr an eciucated
interestin literature,the
elegantcult . . . of ltelleslcttrcs."a6
Insteadol'trying to readevcrythinglabeledas
irnportantby someoneelsc,Leavis"recomrnendIs]closcanalyticstudy of a fbw
poemsof eachof the authorsin questionl'ot
Suchellbrtsin fbcusecl,
c/osereac-ling
will open up literary stucly,Leavissuggests,enablingliterary study to go beyond
reaclingonly thosetexts.Incleed,suchpracticewill eventranslatethesecritical,
closereac'ling
skills to nontextuillobjects.Leavisclaimsirs nruch in the conclusion to How to TeachRcading,stating that "a serious concerl) lor eclucationin
readir.rg
cannol stop at reading";anclthen, "Practicalcriticisntof literatureptust
be associatedwith training in arwareness
of the environment,-aclvertising,the
cinema,the press,architectureand so on, tbr, clearly,to the pervasivccountcrinfluence of this environment the literary training of sensibilityin school is an
inadequatereply.Hcre is raisedthe rvholequestiolrof tl'rcrelirtionof readilg to
education and culture"asThe "closeanalytic study of a l'ewpoems,"thirt is, close
reading,is a bridgeto readinglargerculturalenvironments.'lhisis onc-of Leavis's
main points and one that significar.rtlvimpacts McLul.ran'.s
own developmept.ts
a critic.
Zooming out from a few poems to the culture irt large su(gcsts
thc rmpclrtance,exigency,and even moral certitude of the analltical act. This connection betweenrvholeanclp'.rrt,cultural and objectof sturly,edtrcationanclckrse
counterinfluences--films,nev
world outside the classroom?
ar
educationlook so desPerate
ever before; fbr in a world o
rapiclly-it is on literarytradit
must rest.4e
t
Leavisand ThomPsonacknowledge
Iengesthis "whole world" of "film' ne
stupiclityl's'WhereasLeavisand Thc
of I
dote to the passivcconsumption
ln increasin
ing (scrving"against")
to
seesthe relationship be synergi
and, specifically,the ability to closeI
( ] L o S F ,I t I i A I ) I N ( i
1J
38
Dr(ilTALr\,roDfiRNrsM
TheMechanicalBride:McL
is ha
Mcluhans styleof mediastudies
narrative
claimed the death of grand
by Mct
of media evolution presented
supplantet
Frie<lrichKittler, has been
of the et
forms. C)neneed only think
Mcluhan doesr
vital {ield of study'5e
anyin
he is not attunedto examining
He sets
ell'ectson literary aesthetics'
gen(
more
atrd understandingmedia
tandtngMedia)'Thispat
book, UnrJers
titleol
Critical origins;just recallthe
t
virontneri. But Mcluhan's method
readin
aclaptingand practicing close
Criticism
of the tendencyirr the New
indebtedn
s
Mcl'uhan
isolationisnr.6o
moclernismare mt
literary
cism ancl
Man'
Bride: Folkloteof lndustrial
'llrc
Methanicoltsridcshowshow 1
inf.luenti
to assesssomeof the most
to a pat
The books title is an allusion
Evcn(r9r5Bnrt by ller Baclu'lors'
goalto purstrccriticismby con
arr{s's
pra
Mct.uhan introduceshis critical
are'hc wr
rrnclproccsses"that lbllow
Mcluhan thus
lanclscapel'6'
a sir-rgle
book is a
ing a creativepr'rrsuit'His
"processl'Mcluhan then proceeds
them;i
cxamplesand explicationsof
"are intendcdmerely
['rtrtidcasthat
po
worcl "probes"to describethese
and ProsestYletheYconstitute'
Mcluhan is often quotedasdec
and many choosethe ltrttcr.Yet,in our own moment, wherein the electric age is
becorningdigital, many of N{cl.uhan'spropheciesseen to be coming true. His in-
ci_()s|Rlt.{l)tN(; -19
Bride:Mcluhans EmergingStyle
TheMechanical
Mcluhanssfyleof mecliastudiesis hardly rccognizableto us no$'.Postmodemisrn
claimedthe death of grand narratives,and thus the style of sweepingnarratives
of mediaevolutionpresentedby Mcluhan, and later by ElizabethL,isensteinand
FriedrichKittler, has been supplantedby a rigorous analysisof individual media
forms.One need only think of the emergenceof nrecliaarchaeologyas a recent,
Mcluhan does not carefirllyanalyzespecificmedia fbrmats;
vitalfield of study.se
heis not atturledto examiningany indivi<lualtbrm of technolog,vor its p'.rrticular
effectson literary aesthetics.He setshis sightswider-on the goal of analyzing
andunderstandingmedia more generally(hence thc title of his grounclbreaking
Media).This panoramicperspectiveis adaptedfrom his New
book,Understanding
Criticalorigins;just rccall the title of l.eavisanclThompsodsCultureand the Environment.But Mcluhan's method of using literature to read culture works by
adaptingand practicir.rgclose reading in ways that also ofl'erirn implicit critique
of thetendencyin thc New Criticisrn to useformalism to push towirrdintellectuarl
isolationism.6"
Mcluhan'.sindebtedr.rcss
to and activcaclaptationof the NervCriti'llre
cismand literary moclernismare n)ost eviclentin his hrst book,
Mcchanicol
Bride:Ft>lklore
of IndustrialMan.
TheMechanicalBride showshow practicalcriticism can be aclaptedantl :rppliecl
to assess
someof the rnost inllucr.rtialtexts fiom pol.rularculture:irdvertisernents.
Thebook'stitle is an allusionto a painting by Marcel l)uchirmp, TheBrideStrippad
Bareby LIer Bachelors,Even (t9r5-z.t), and it suggestsan alignnrer.rtwith Richards's
goalto pu15uscriticism by con.rpirrir.rg
art acrossmecliaforn.rs.In his prethcc,
'bbjccts
Mcluhan introduceshis criticalprrrcticein clistinctlyartistictcrms:thc
that tbllow are,he writes,"unlbldeclby exhibit and commentaryas
andprocesses"
a singlelandscape."t"
Mcluhan thus beginshis book of culturirl criticism by clairn'bbjcct"
ing a creativepursuit. His book is an artistic
ancla creativeapproachor
"process."
Mcl.uhan then proceedsnot by declirringa thesisand proving it using
of them;instead,hc aclnitsto sccking"not conclusions"
examples
and explications
"are
intended merely as points of departure."o'He will later use the
but ideasthat
word "probes"to describethesepoints of dcparturcand alsothe criticalmethod
andprosestylethey constitute.
'l
Mcluhan is often quotedas declaring, DON'l' ITXPLAIN-/ I EXPLORE:'"'
His manner of presentingprovocativeideasrather than proving a rational argument or a cohesivethc-oryechoesEzra Pouncl'sview of what criticism should be.
In'A Retrospect"(r913),Poundwritesthat criticism"providesfixedpointsof departure.It may startlerrdull readerinto alcrtness.lhat little of it rvhich is sood is
40
l)lC;l-IALM()l)lrRNls\l
mostly in strayphrases."6+
McLuhan useshis probesfor preciselythis purpose.As
a result'his criticisrnstrivestolvardthe poetic.He clearlydifferclltiateshis practice
from the norm. "This is an approach,"he writes in IJnrjerstatttling
Meflia, "which
it is hard to make clear at a time when most books offer a singleidea as a rneans
of unifying a troupe of observzrtions."6'
contemporary criticism ref.lectsthe larger
constraintsof print culture,asMcluhan scesit, wherein typographicman expects
a singleidea per book and expectsthat idea to be presentedin a clear,linear fashion presentedchronologicallyfrom pageone onwarc'ls.
McLuhan chirllengesthese
conventions'He seeksto def-amiliarize
tl'reformal expectationsof literary criticisrn
and to exposethe larger constraintsand ideologicirlforcesinfbrming the practice.
To put it anotherway,Mcluhan pursuesirn avant-garcle
approachto writing literary criticism. The resultsare prose texts that requirc a rcaderl,vresponsetlerived
fiom readingavant-gardemodernist poetry-that is, closereading.
Mcluhirn's probes,exhibits,and plscsss4sare intended to prornote slorvand
careful closereading.'A whirling phantasmagoriacan be graspeclonly lvhen arrestedfbr contemplation,"Mcluhan writes, 'And this very arrestis also a relcase
from the usual participation."('('
The irrresteclstateol'conternplatiol, the slow ar.rd
careful attention paid to a text, is not, Nlcluhirn clirims,the "usualparticipation'
of readers,but it is necessaryfbr understanclingthe world of the elcctric.Mcluhan
demonstrates
this reac{ing
practiceirr the pagesot'TlteMechauicalllricle.Fronrits
first pages,TheNlechanicalBride presentsa pedagogicalellbrt to train relders to
seehow advertisementswork, how they operatefbrmally to proclucecertain eft-ects."Why not use the new commercialcducationas il lncansof cnlighteningits
Mechan
N'lcl.uhan,'lhe
frigr.r lvlarshall
with
zoozIrqsrl,uo-ttr.)l{eprinted
Press,
intended prey?"6;He closereadsthe culturrll artit'actsof massculture,aclvertisements,in order to teachothersto critically read the worlcl arountl them.
suggestedexercises,bringing homet
this methodology by applyingit to n
above,M
sicleof the pagepresentecl
c
argumentabout the advertisement
stallion and sweetkid?" and "The G
in a
title of the exhibit is "rvVoman
explainshis title by comparingthe
4l
ra
////////412a
Brida:Folklore
of lndustrialMrur.((iingko
Figr.r MarshallMcl.uhan,TheMechatical
ofthepublisher.
zoozfrgsr],go-ttr.)l{eprintecl
withpernrission
Press,
a similarftrnction as Mcluhan'.s"cxhibitsl' Culture nnd Environndnf pursuesits
practicalcriticism through examplestaken fiom popular culture,(luotesfrom adof them.
vertisements
and books,which arethen fbllowedby analltical cliscussions
'examples'-i.e,
Leavisand Thompsonexplain,"the expositionis largelyby wtryof
McLuhan expandsnpon
exercises,bringing home the point at issue."68
suggested
this methodologyby applying it to non-textualobjectsof study taken from mass
cultureand incorporating thesevisual objectsinto the pngesofhis book.
Mcluhan does not limit himself to the text containeclir.rthe ads but irlso :rcl'lhompson's
text, the visuirlirspectis only
dresses
their visual design.In Leavisanci
but in Mcluhan's it is manif'estand central.For example,on the verso
suggested,
sideof the pagepresenteclabove,Mcluhan lists cluestionsthat subtly presentarn
argumentaboutthe advertisement
containcdon the rectoside(e.g,,"Justarnother
stallionand sweetkid?" and "'fhe Greeksmanagethesemattersin myths?").The
title of the exhibit is "Woman in a Mirror," and the frrst line of Mcl.uharis text
explainshis title by comparing the advertisementto an unexpectedmodenrist
source:"This ad ernploysthe sametechniclueas Picassoin'fhe Mirror."6'McLuhan goeson to describePicasso's
visual practiceo1'operatingthough "juxtaposition and contrast" and then claims that irclmen pursue a similar strategy."The
oppositionof the cool elements,phallic and ambrosial,proviclesa chain reaction,"
42
Mcluhan writes of the image.z"The fr'gureof the upscalewoman, the "good giri"
and "sweetkidl' is presentednext to the image of a horse representingclassical
sculpture(rather than a raging beast),suggestedby the allusion to Greek m1'ths
in the opening questionsand by Mcluhan's claim that the holse'silppearancesuggests"the trailing cloudsof culture asfrom someEuropeancastlel'7'The
high-class
woman and speciallybred horsesharea senseof stature;both aredesirableobjects
to assess
and possess.
Within the contextof the advertisement,they are pairedasa
coupleand double eachother.They both stanclupright and look toward the right.
The slantedte-rtof "Palomino' ("llre stocking color fbr Spring'47") bridgestheir
bodies and aligns their value."Palomino,"the ad sugge'sts,
describesthe color of
both of their legs,sincethis is an advertisementfbr a new color ol'Berkshirestock-
of jux
advertisement ancl the technique
re
from
his own textual play' He moves
wellasF
then quotesA' N' Whiteheadas
prod
lation and iuxtapositionofsources
whar
does
rvell
thing in Fitzgerald pretty
effectl
of "this" is not specified,but the
tt
through their shareduseof an artistic
subtexts'Mcluhans obliqueexplication
slt-p
by no means straightforward'The
describe
employsthe formal practiceit
than
producespoetic dissonancerather
The GutenbergGalaxY
tirirrcdanJ lbcr'rsedattenl'ionexerted
these bullet points and block quotes
Galaxy
TheGutenberg
Ttrepagesof Mcluhan's secondbook, Tre GutenbergGaloxy: 71teMaking of''lyplgraphicMan Q96z),continue to exhibit Leavis'simprint even as they venture
larrgcblock
outinto new forms of experimentation.In Culture and Envirctnmerrl,
quotesstandout from the rest of the page,ancl this selectecltcxt iclentifiesthe
"booksthat the readcr is intended to examinefbr himselfl'ioMcl-uhan tirkesthe
ofusing block quotesto incorporatea critical bibliographyinto thc pagcs
practice
of one'stext and turns it into a central organizationalmoclefbr presentinghis argumentin'Ihe GutenbergGalaxy.Insteadof using block cl.rotesto craft a syllabus
forfuturereading,as Leavisand Thompsondo, Mcluhan builds a bullet-point irrgumentccrossthe pagesof his book (seet-igurer.z). A rcaclercirn flip through the
pages
to quickly reaclthesepull-quotes,which themselvescomprisean argument
'Ihe
pull-quotesfbrm a re:rclingpath that promotesil
dispersed
acrossthe codex.
hlpertextualreadingpractice,one more aligneclwith the habitsof rcadingonline
in a skirn-and-plungemode (to use StevenJohnson'swords) than with the sustainedand fbcusedattention exertedwhen closereirdingpoetry.;;Mcluhan uses
thesebullet points and block cluotesto promote a reading practice thirt is both
hyperand deep that actuallycornplicatesthe division betweenthern.isWhatevcr
approachone takesto readingthe contentprcsentedon the pagesof this book, the
pagesthemselvesdemand attention as meclialinterlhces.
Mcluhan's use of the pull-qr.rotes
exposethe pageto be a kind of ciurvasupon
which text blockslie like tiles in mosaic.fhese text tiles rellexivelyilluminate the
interfaceof the pageand the medium of the book,which is alsopart of the contentol
Mcluhan's argument. Mcluhan reflectivelytheorizeshis forrnal practice before the
bookevenbegins.In a pageof text that appearsbefbrethe prologue,Mcluhirn writes,
"TheGutenbergGalaxydeveloP
The alternativeprocedurewo
'l
lationships in pictorial space'
upon which the presentstudYc<
interacting forms that have ur
particulady in our time" (emPh
3l
Fig r.z Marshall Mcl-uhan, TheGutenbergGuluxy:The Makingof'Typographic
Nlm.
U'lirronto PressanrlSisnetllooks,1962.Iteprintedrvitltpcrnrissionofthe publishcr.
he attributed to Picasso.TlrcCutenbe
King Lear proposes. . l'-and thenprc
CI.()S! RITADI\G
ac
ll
over
of placing Pound'srePresentation
more public actsof refiaming the moder
overload. The reader must constantly shift and redirect her attention in order
Hospital (a government-runpsychiatri
poet to a young literary scholarnamed
perspective."$:
But his formal strategyalso imitatesthe acousticellect of elec-
tory.seKenner'ssemina-lThePowrdEra
Pound, whom the literary academyhad I
signilicanc
McLuhan assertedPor'rnd's
He viewed Ezra Poundnot only asa gre
I am suggesting,as othershave do
meclia studies upon his appreciationa
Media StudiesasModernistStud
( . t _ ( ) s l . t R l t A t ) t N r( r;
MediaStudiesasModernistStudies
In the pagesof TheMechanicalBride,Mcluhan confrontshis reaclerwith a challenge posed as a query: "You never thought of a page of news as a symbolist
48
DI(iI'IALMODI'RNISNI
landscape?"et
He continues,"the French symbolists,fbllowed by fames |oyce in
Ulysses,
saw that there was a new art form ofuniversal scopepresentin the tech-
Mcluhan's work.""'3
The concept of"applied |oyce"is a poe
impetus with the digital actsof adapting
in
modernism from a new perspective;
media theorist beforemediastudieswas
Mcluhan's intt
thnt book rePrinted.""'5
trivial but centralto the theoreticalent
C I , ( ) S HR E A D I N ( ;
4q
"Conversely
then, it might be fair to say that no one can claim a seriousappreciationof Joyce'swork without a complete familiarity with the full spectrum of
Mcluhan'swork."ruj
Theconceptof"applied foyce"is apoetic act that, Icl like to suggest,sharesan
impetuswith the digital acts of adaptingmociernismthat I will examinelater in
thisbook. Mcluh:rns formal engagementwith foyce irnd his more symbolic act
of framingand hanging Pound'sportrait are both gesturesthat connectMcluhan
to modernismand to digital modernism, making him a nridpoint in the literary
genealogy
this book traces.When we turn to the inlluenceof Poundon Mcluhan,
whichis somewhatless-examinedthan Joyce's
imprint, we recognizehow literary
studies
and modernism are centralto digital culture.\\'e alsohavea chirnceto see
modernismfiom a new perspective;in this case,to seeEzra Pound as an early
mediatheoristbeforemcdia studieswas a rccosnizablefielclof study.
McLuhanand Pound
while the poet
Duringthe years ry48-r957,Mcluhan correspondedwith Por.rncl
wasrestrainedat St.Elizabeths,and his lettersillustratethirt McLuhan understoocl
Poundto be not only an impclrtant poet but also an insightful analystof mediir.
At this tirne,Pound'spoetry had beenovershadowecl
by his politics.After his stint
supportingMussolini in radio broaclcastsduring World \\tar Il, Pound was detainedby the US governmentfor treasonirnd fbuncl mentally unfit to stand trial.
But the imprisonecland disgracedpoet did not lack visitors,mirny of thcm luminousliterati brrt also young upstartslikc Mct,r.rhitnwho visitecliL migliorJabbro
seekinghim out as a guide for interpreting culture.This is a role that PounclculIn an unclatcdletter,
tivatedthroughout this iif'e,as Guide to Kulchur expresses.
placedarouncl 1948 (to Felix Giovelli), Mcluhan describeshis admiration for
Mcluhan fbund Pourrd's
Pound'staste:"Everythinghe mentionshasto be re,rd')('4
pedagogyso compelling that, in a letter dated Septcmberzz, 1949,he wrotc to
Pound,"Have just this minute been bracing myself rvith the pageson prosody
in your ABC of Reading.May my pate becomea flue-pot if I dont [sic] try to get
that book reprinted.""'5Mcluhan's interestin Pound rvirsneither tangentialnor
trivial but central to the theoreticalenterprisehe was undertaking.Indeecl,it was
during the periocl of his correspondencewitl.r Pounclthat Mcltrhan clcvelopecl
the centralaspectsof his criticism: methods of closereaclingmecliaanciexamining the connectionsbetweenlanguage,culture,anclmedia."'6In a letter to Pound
datedfuly i6, 1952,Mcluhan lays out in detail the sectionsof the book on which
'flre
GutenbergGalaxy:
he is working and which would establishhis reputation,
50
DIGII.ALMODIII].NISM
From his letters,it is obviousthat Mcluhan identified pounclas not only a l'ather
of modernism but also as a forefatherof media theory.
ture and reading.ln ABC of ReadingAx4) pound writes,"In all casesone testwill
be, tould this materialhavebeenmademore eificientin somt-other mediuma""ur
In personalcorrespondence
with HarrietMonroe(in a letterdatedAugustrg,rgrz),
suit by reminding us that the book is a tcchnology (and by doing srl in ir boltled
staternent):"our obsessionwith the book as the archetype of culture has not
even encouraged us to consider the book itself as a peculiar and arty way of
packaging experience" (emphasisin original).,,. He continues,"But until the
il)lN(;
5r
straight
out refusedto answerthe question,responding,"Yu go right orr writin'me
letters-but
dont xpect me to answerquestions-even
if answersareknown'(June r8,
1948)."8
Mcluhan did not need answersbecausehe tbund in Pound'sThe Cnntos
aninchoatemedia theory that provided inspiration fbr his own nascentideas."e
In a letterto Pound datedjune 16,1948,Nlcluhan describesTheCantosas "the
firstand only serioususeof the greattechnicalpossibilitiesof the cinematographi'
because
they provide "perceptionsof simultaneitiec""uHe comparesThe Oant<ts
of simultaneitythat he would
to film becausethe poetry expressesan aresthetic
laterascribeto electric media and strive to mimic in his own rvriting. Reading
Mcluhan reading Pound returns us to my earlier examinationof the role of the
NewCriticism in the developmentof media stuclies.ln a letter to Pound clatecl
)une3o,1948,Mcluhan writeswith adrniration,"Your prclems-theCantos-rnake
heavierdemandson the readerthan anlthing elseof your tirne."''"The compliment
is basedin the fact that TheCantosclemandhermeneuticinterpretation:rnd close
reading.For Mcluhan, this is a good thil'rg."Pouncl'sprose is precise,"Mcltrhan
writes,"It has to be readvery slowly"(ernphasis
in original)."' First,thcre is thc
demand(italicizedfor cmphasis)to slowlyand closelyrcaclPound'sprose.Second,
Mcluhirn identifieshorv Pourrdadaptsa poetic fornrai method of condcnsinghis
ideasinto poetic tbrm even in his prose criticism. Mcl,uhan draws upon Pound's
own poetic symbol fbr representinglirnguageat its nlost preciseand imagistic,thc
"His method in
ideogram,to describethe aestheticto which he hirrrsell'aspires.
proseand verseis the ideogram,"Mcluhan writes,"'Ihat is thc sculp[t]editenr,
whetherhistorical,excerptedor invented."''r
In Chapter5,I exarnincPound'sideogrammicmethod in relationto mecliahistory and theory,but 1brnow the relevirnt
point is that Mcluhirn tbllows Por.rndin turning to literatureas il nlc.lnsof thinking aboutmedia (both the mediaof cinemaand electricsimultaneitybut alsothe
printed book). Mcluhan seesin Pound'.suse of the icleograma conrlensationof
contentthat demandsunpacking by a careful reader.Mcl,uhan appreciatcsthis
datadensityas artistic practiceand critical rhetoric.The irieogramclemancls
close
reacling,and the impact of this point is evident in Mcl,uhan'sorvn nretlia theorl',
particularlyin the distinction he makesbetweenhot anclcool mediir.
'lhe
In UnderstandingMedio:
Extensitttts
oJ Man, Nlcluhan distinguishesbetween hot and cool media basedon the level of participation they require liom
the user.Hot media (radio, film, photographs,books,etc.)are high definition ancl
leavelittle to be filleclin fiom the audiencewhile cool meclia(thc telephone,cartoons, oral speech,and, perhapscourlterintuitively,telcvision)require high levels
of participation tiom users.The distinction is lessvaluablefbr the often arbitrary
and outdateddivisionsit make'sbetweenindividunl media tbrms thar.rfbr the fact
52
I)tGITAt_tvlODERNIS\,1
the extensionof o
whereabouts,cxtendingour senseof;
aswe know it is,without
consciousness
TheRear-ViewMirror
as exempliliedby Cubism,cinema,and
ing, the practice of slowly and carefu
In Understanding
Media, the book that made him fhmous,Mcl,uhan arguesthat a
new cultural epochis upon us, and it is characterizedby speed.In the rnechanical
age,actionscould be <listinguished
from their consequences
becausethey happened slowly,but, Mcluhan writes, "Toclaythe action and reactionoccur almost
ilt the sametimeJ'r'1.
This is in part because,"Ii]n the elcctric age,"Mcluhan explains, "our central nervous systemis technologicallyextendcclto involve us in
54
DICitAl_ MOI)[,R-\tSM
wyndham Lewis and Ezra Pound releasedin r9r4 that contained the vorticist manifesto and groundbreakingexperimentationwith typography and page
Conclusion
Mcluhan rlot onlywrote.rt the midpoint of the twel)ticthcentury,but l.reis irlso
himself a midpoint betweennodernism and digital modernisrn.Donald Thc.all
writes,"sincethe mid-point of the centurya singlename,Mcl"uhan,hasbroocled
emergentliterarYculture'
Mcluhan saw the world in the mi
and he oflered the following query' Pc
Cll.OStrIll..AI)l\*G
5s
ghost-like,
over social and cultural understandingof the intersection of communication,computers,persuasion,and the emergenceof a technoculture.""'
Mcluhan is a bridge betweenliterary and media studiesbecausehe
Moreover,
the role of the modernist poet/critic in the postmodern period using iru
adopted
of literature that he gained from the New Critics to explain the
understanding
ageof television.I hope we can now seehow retracing Mcl,uhan'sconnections
to the New Criticism shows how he adaptedthe practicesof an earlier cultural
momentto addresshis own. We can learn fiom Mcl,uhan and do somethingsimilar,Indeed,understandingMcluhan in this way servesto remind us that we too
canand,indeed,must renovatetraditionalcritical practices to suit the needsof our
literary culture.
emergent
Mcluhan saw the world in the midst of transfbrmation due to medial shift,
andhe offeredthe following query. Posedin the languageof modernism (and o1'
vorticismin particular),it could easilyserveas a thesisor a probe fbr the chapters
thatfollow: "May not our job in the new electronicagebe to stuclythe action of
thenew vortex on the body of the older culture?"'toReaclingMcl-uhan as both a
modernistand a theorist of new media, I answer"thc Oracle of the ElectricAge"
in the alfirmative.How exactlyto go abclutstudyingthe new vortcx of thc clectric
ageand its impact on literatureis rny pr.rrsuitin the following chapters,