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Research Report by Meghan Dion

Page history last edited by Meghan Dion 10 years, 4 months ago

The Medium is Not the Massage: How Adaptations Counter Technological Determinism

 

By Meghan Dion, Into the Zone: A Study of Adaptations 

 

Abstract

 

     First published in 1967, The Medium is the Massage is a collaborative project between media theorist Marshall McLuhan and graphic designer Quentin Fiore. It juxtaposes written word with collage-like images in order to demonstrate how different types of media—oral, print, and electronic—affect an audience’s view of the world around them. Described as a “collide-o-scopic journey”, McLuhan and Fiore’s work seeks to impact the reader on a sensory level. With this in mind, McLuhan proposes his idea of the global village, a future where hearing is the most important sense, and where all communities are connected through technology.

 

Description

 

     Notably, McLuhan introduces the reader to technological determinism, a theory that claims all media is an extension of the human senses. In other words, McLuhan believes that technology directly and decisively determines how people behave: “Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication” (8). By chronicling the transformation of media from oral to print, and finally, to electronics, McLuhan uses his work both in text and in context to demonstrate the power that different forms of media have in shaping the human world. For example, oral tradition created a culture where ritual was the most important means of communication and the ear was the most important sensory organ. By handing down rituals from generation to generation, tribes created bonds and learned about the world from each other. However, eventually print changed communication by making the eye the most powerful sensory organ: “Like an easel painting, the printed book added much to the new cult of individualism. The private, fixed point of view became possible and literacy conferred power of detachment, non-involvement” (50). As a result, narration as a form of social communication declined in popularity. Instead of memorizing stories, phonetic alphabets allowed people to receive information without face-to-face communication, encouraging a private lifestyle over a tribal one. Finally, McLuhan predicted electronic inventions such as the telegraph and the radio would make hearing the dominant sense again. He prophesized a new form of tribalism, the global village, would arise, reviving oral traditions and unifying communities. Ultimately, The Medium is the Massage is often described as prophetic. It invites readers to consider how media has impacted the past, and how technological innovation will inevitably shape the future.

     Today, the world is entering into what many consider a digital epoch. Now, media theorists must consider how portable devices such as laptops, iPads, and smartphones alter the messages people receive. Technological determinism is one end of the media theory spectrum. To reiterate, McLuhan argues that technology is the most crucial element in social change. Significantly, in his text, McLuhan states, “All media works us over completely…Any understanding of social and cultural change is impossible without a knowledge of the way media work as environments” (26). However, this statement assumes humans are unaware of the effects different forms of media have on the cultures and people that use them. While technological determinists such as McLuhan claim the media is the message itself, other theorists seek to prove humans are not passive receivers of these messages.

 

Commentary

 

     In response, Into the Zone: A Study of Adaptations is a team project devised by seven undergraduates from the University of California, Santa Barbara. It seeks to disprove technological determinism by highlighting human agency in the relationship between people and media. The team argues adaptations are proof people are aware of media's effect on a message. Further, while the team agrees certain elements will indeed be changed across different platforms, they hypothesize tone and theme are two literary elements that can be consistently tracked through most media sources. In particular, they use the example of Arkady and Boris Strugastsky’s, Roadside Picnic, a story that has been adapted across three types of media, in order to further prove their hypothesis. In subgroups of two, three subgroups total with one administer, members experience a different form of media—book, movie, and video game. Afterwards, each individual responds by completing two different emotional surveys. One survey ranks emotions on a number scale while the other critically evaluates the text. After discussing the survey results, the team then attempts to create a collaborative adaptation using the modern app, Vine.

     In the end, The Medium is the Massage acts as a comparative and historical resource for Into the Zone: A Study of Adaptations. First, it provides a historical introduction to media theory. Notably, McLuhan and Fiore offer a chronological history of the impact of media, beginning with antiquity, when oral tradition was the primary mode of communication, and ending when The Medium is the Massage was first published in 1967, during a rise in electronic innovation. However, because of its age, the work does not consider today’s modern devices. As a result, the team must consider what types of media define the era they live in. If the ear was the most important sense during the electronic epoch, perhaps the digital era will finally force mankind to multi-task their senses, specifically those of touch, sight, and hearing. Already, touchscreens are prominent. Owners of smartphones and portable devices like iPads and Kindles often use touch to type and select. Further, visually, people use apps such as Skype and Google Plus to communicate with companions, and text messages are read like books, changing the way people have conversations with each other. Finally, sound is especially exercised through online music stores and blogs such as iTunes and Soundcloud. Media is changing, and mankind must change with it. Into the Zone: A Study of Adaptations uses modern media devices to discover how much of this change is credited to the media platforms people use, and how much is credited to human agency.

     Second, McLuhan and Fiore’s attempt to create a project demonstrating media’s power is an idea the team seeks to replicate. Using the smartphone app, Vine, to create their version of Arkady and Boris Strugastsky’s science fiction story, Roadside Picnic, the team emphasizes how digital media alters a story in a way specific to the media device being used. Moreover, Roadside Picnic is a story that has already been adapted across multiple media platforms—book, video game, and movie. By comparing and contrasting these different platforms through emotional responses, surveys, and team discussions, the group counters McLuhan’s claim that humans are passive observers, unaware of media’s effect upon themselves and their culture. Thus, Into the Zone: A Study of Adaptations parallels McLuhan and Fiore’s idea, creating a unique adaptation in order to highlight media’s power in shaping a message. However, the group also simultaneously demonstrates how human agency plays a role in uncovering this message.

     In sum, The Medium is the Massage is a valuable resource to the team project for many reasons. First, the group attempts to both build upon and disprove McLuhan’s theory of technological determinism. Specifically, by considering adaptations of Roadside Picnic, the team best determines how one story is altered and how it stays the same across multiple platforms by evaluating group discussions and emotional surveys. Next, the team attempts to create their own adaptation, as McLuhan and Fiore did. As a result, they demonstrate that the message a medium presents comes from the user rather than the specific form of media. The project actively seeks to understand how media alters the story within it, and in the process, demonstrates how media is used to communicate information on a macro level. Humans are not passive observers of media. Rather, people actively seek out messages within them.

 

Resources for Further Study

 

Björling, Fiona. "When The Film Is Better Than The Book." Russian Studies In Literature 40.3 (2004): 64-78. Academic Search Complete. Web. 4 Nov. 2013.

 

Lern, Staninslaw, Elsa Schieder, and R.M.P. "About the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic"" Science Fiction Studies 10.3 (1983): 317-32. JSTOR. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/4239570>.

 

McLuhan, Marshall, and Quentin Fiore. The Medium is the Massage. Berkeley: Gingko Press Inc., 1996. Print.  

 

 

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