Counterblast

by Marshall

In 1969 Marshall McLuhan observed that "today we live invested with an electric information environment that is quite as imperceptible to us as water is to a fish." He was convinced that the new electronic media shape not only the information they convey but also our very consciousness and that in order to actually perceive this a counter environment is needed. To demonstrate his point McLuhan wrote Counterblast. More a manifesto than a book, Counterblast is a typographically explosive compilation of short essays and probes (complex ideas compressed into a few thought-provoking words), all of which focus on the effects of media on the human condition. It could be seen as a compilation of bold headlines and it is hauntingly prescient, as this superbly reproduced facsimile of the original edition will affirm. In true McLuhan style that title 'Counterblast' is a play on the word 'Blast', the name given to a magazine designed by Wyndham Lewis in 1914 and the first publication ever to be set in heavy headline type, albeit in the face of enormous resistance from the London printing establishment who considered it anti-literary.

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Technology

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

Reviews

[Mark Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Give him 50 years and see how it all worked out. How accurate was he?

[carmen ✶]

razón no le falta pero a lo mejor un poco de orden si.... no pasa nada pero esto ha sido como entrar en la mente de alguien con una tormenta gigante de pensamientos críticos todos a la vez y por todas partes .. pero todo bien muy interesante

[Mikko]

juuh