Jordanporter0909's Blog

a little something about Marshall McLuhan… September 3, 2009

Marshall McLuhan was a critical theorist of the media that embarked on a new way to categorize media theory and history. Marshall was born in Alberta, Canada to Elsie and Herbert McLuhan. Later in life, Marshall decided to attend the University of Manitoba where he earned his MA in English and also won some awards in math and science. After earning his masters he decided He would pursue his lifelong dream of studying for his graduate’s degree in England. He enrolled at Cambridge as an undergrad and continued his lessons from I.A. Richards and F.R. Leavis, which whom influenced and inspired him for his later works.                                                                                                                                                After returning from his studies in England he found a job as a school teacher in Wisconsin. After working from school to school he found his way to St. Louis University where he taught English and other studies. While in St. Louis Marshall met and married his wife Corinne Lewis.                                                        At the beginning of the 1950’s Marshall began to speak out at communications seminars. Not soon after, McLuhan published his first Major work “The Mechanical Bride” which was a criticism of the effects of advertising on society. Here’s a link to a place you can buy the book if you are interested, http://www.amazon.com/Mechanical-Bride-Folklore-Industrial-Man/dp/1584230509I . Marshall went on to write such works as: The gutenburg Galaxy, Understanding Media, The medium is the message, War and Peace in the Global Village, From Cliché to Archetype. 

But after McLuhan wrote Understanding Media, McLuhan became arguably the most famous English professor of the modern era. Mcluhan was a man of weird and round-about sayings that captivated his audience. He brought with him an intense swagger of education that he applied to his seminars and teachings. Many writers, such as Jean Kilbourne, carry on his legacy of communication understanding today.