Class Nine: Eco, McLuhan and the book

Todays class did the following:

1. Presentation on Umberto Eco
2. lab demonstration and workshop on Google docs.
3. Discussion of McLuhan's four laws.

Umberto Eco is known both as an academic and as a popular novelist. His Name of the Rose became an international best seller as well as a film with Sean Connery. This reading is a speech given by Eco, which presents his views about the internet. Significantly, he grounds his discussion in print and the relations between the two media. We will return to this topic again. Perhaps the most interesting comment is his discovery of a chapter in the Victor Hugo novel Notre Dame de Paris usually translated in English as The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In Part V, Chapter II, Hugo steps out of the story, to comment on the significance of the media of print. The title of the chapter is "This will replace that", a remark made by the archbishop in the story. Hugo suggests not the usual media of writing or manuscripts, but the architecture of the cathedral as a medium of communication. The Cathedral, he says, represents the church, and communicates to its audience through the building itself, and through what happens inside the building. But, says Hugo, print will destroy and replace the cathedral.

For us in this course, it is useful to be able to step back and think about the next phase. Do the new electronic communication modes in turn replace print? Specifically, will the internet in turn, replace the book? (Which is why we discussed how many of you had read an online book. The surprising response was that most of you had not, and some of you were adamant that you would not! And of course, for those of you with a crystal ball, the next question is "What will replace the internet?" Interesting, isn't it, because, each time, with each technology, we think that we have reached the limit of progress. Yet, innovation continues.

Canadian media theorist Marshall McLuhan has also thought considerably about the effects of new media on old and with his son Eric McLuhan has penned four "Laws of Media" which he believes should help us put all media in perspective. Too often we get carried away with the glitz and glamour of the new, and find it difficult to step back and consider the full impact. The four laws ask us to consider what a medium enhances, obsolesces, retrieves and reverses into. McLuhan felt that these four laws were universal and complete. You may choose to disagree with him, but it is nevertheless useful to be able to consider their potential.

Our four questions, following McLuhan, should be:
What does the pedagogic internet enhance?
What does it make obsolete?
What does it bring back that we used to have?
What happens when we let it go to its fullest?

Interesting questions...

One other conceptual idea was presented in class, namely the work of Andrew Feenberg, Communication theorist at Simon Fraser. He provides another four way visualization which suggests that media / technology can be perceived in four ways, based on a 2 x 2 matrix. One the one side we identify whether the technology is neutral or value laden; on the other we identify whether the technology is humanly controlled or autonomously controlled. He labels each philsophic position as instrumental, determinist, substantive, and critical theory. Most commonly, we think that "technology is a tool." As such it is neutral and we are in control. On the other side, try to think of a situation where technology is value-laden and also autonomous. Can you? Why do you own a television set, but not audio cassette player in your home? Because someone has decided that no one will support the cassette format. Likewise VHS is being replaced by DVD? What will replace DVD? Whatever it is, most of us will purchase it, because that is the only way to go. The technology starts to run away with itself, and we can do nothing except buy into it. And that technology also has built in biases as well.

Finally, our practical component of the day was to explore google docs, a system whereby a team of individuals can contribute to a final document.

Last comment: In retrospect, this writing of a summary should be your job, not mine. It forces me to reconceptualize what we have done in class. Perhaps that should be a useful task for all of us...

Denis

Addendum:
(Posted Nov 9)
Additional thoughts about McLuhan’s four laws of media:

Why this exercise not trivial. It may seem unusual to spend time examining media and searching for single words which capture the essence of a technology. Think of this as a framework to help one philosophize. Try to think metaphorically. Of course, eventually, you need go beyond the single word. Or do you? Perhaps McLuhan tetrads make up a short visual poem, like a Haiku. The purpose of a Haiku is to make us think about relationships and to think emotionally and with feeling. Our thinking is too often mundane, influenced by hype, and constrained by commonalities. The four laws in tetrad form allow one to break free.

In addition, the four laws extend the concept of medium and media. Note that in our dicusssion, we covered not just television, radio, and computers. But “capitalism” and the “automobile”. McLuhan asks us to extend our reach.

In class, I got stuck at the retrieve quadrant for the automobile. It was easy to see how the automobile enhanced speed, obsolesced the horse and buggy, and can reverse into traffic gridlock. But the retrieval response of “Age of knights?” That one caught all of us off guard, and I promised I would check it out with my “experts” and come back with a more detailed explanation. Once again: How is the “age of Knights” a response to the Retrieve quadrant for the automobile? Here is my response:

What does the automobile bring back from the distant past? The age of knights, of course. The vehicle is your armour. With a car, you have your own horse(power). You can go do things. You go on your own quest. You are on a crusade. You go to places to gather and meet people.

The age of knights had a code of chivalry. In particular, male knights sougt to save maidens in distress. Today, the automobile is still considered a male “toy”. A popular image is the helpless female standing by the side of the road with a flat tire, The legend continues!

However, the male domination can be quickly deconstructed. The knight is covered in armour, so you cannot really see who is behind the mask. A knight is visibly gender neutral. Likewise, one cannot see through the black windows of a car.. You cannot see into the armour.

At still another level. the black knight metaphorically stood for death. The automobile, too, metaphorically can be death.

Finally, without a car, you can go out at night, even in dangerous territory, where you would not normally go without your armour. You are no longer afraid of the (k)night.

In short, it works! The automobile indeed really does bring back the “age of knights.


Now that that is out of the way, here are three more tetrads for you to complete. Give one word for each of the four quatrants... if you can. I will give you my answers at the beginning of next class.




Internet pedagogy course

Enhance:
Obsolesce:
Retrieve:
Reverse:

Virtual textbook

Enhance:
Obsolesce:
Retrieve:
Reverse:


Classroom Teacher today

Enhance:
Obsolesce:
Retrieve
Reverse Slavery.