Abstract
This paper offers a strong critique of the ideas of Marshall McLuhan, commencing with his key notion of ‘acoustic space’. Inasmuch as his ideas have been taken up in popular and professional discourse, and can also be seen as representative of main, current positions in media and communication theory, critique of McLuhan's historical work and career has contemporary relevance, as well as significance in any history of media ideas. This paper systematically discounts the content of McLuhan's thought in its grammatical, cultural, political and psychological significance. Confirmation of the literary, political, classical and theological grounds of his media inquiry only serves to probleniatise and finally discount its overall appeal, especially compared with more recent phenomenological and semiotic approaches.
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