—— these two famous theorists both point out their provocative views on media theory. Their models of media both have significantly influences in media field. his essay will explain McLuhan’s statement ‘The medium is message’ in relation to modernity and evaluate its usefulness for two technologies. In the meantime, the essay also will research how Baudrillard's post-modern theory contains important insights into contemporary media, especially his critique of the technical determinism in the electronic age of media and prevalent consumerism. However, Baudrillard's nihilistic tendency embedd. The following context will divide into 2 parts. The first part will examine a contrast between McLuhan’s Modernity theory and Baudrillard’s postmodernity theory. The second part will explain how they both help understand media processes and what media’s place in society and culture.
To begin with, the first thing we should do is get to know and distinguish the concepts of modernism and postmodernism, modernity and postmodernity,
Jean-Francois Lyotard tries to distinguish them and said that:
“The Postmodern would be that which in the modern invokes the unpresentable in presentation itself, that which refuses the consolation of correct forms, refuses the consensus of taste permitting a common experience of nostalgia for the impossible, and inquires into new presentations--not to take pleasure in them, but to better produce the feeling that there is something unpresentable.”
Following Frederic Jameson, there is another way to conceive the relationship between modernism and postmodernism, and this is to recognize them as distinct cultural formations. Modernity is the root about order: about rationality and rationalization, creating order out of chaos. Dan Laughey said in his blog that:
“Modernism is an artistic, literary and critical tradition of experimental work (circa 1890-1940) that cherishes individual creativity in opposition to the hostile consequences of modernity.”
“Modernity is the social, economic, political and technological developments that have characterized the transition from traditional (pre-modern) to advanced (modern) civilizations.”
Then he continues to explain that:
“Postmodernism is the term given to a popular strand of feminist theory that emerged in the 1980s as a critique of orthodox feminisms and claimed that equality between the sexes had been achieved.”
“Postmodernity is the social, economic, political and technological developments that have characterized the transition from modern to newly-organized ways of life that are typically associated with globalization and rise of mass culture, media and communications technologies.”
Though explains by Frederic Jameson and Dan Laughey, we can distinct and clear the concepts.
After got the clearly concepts on modernity and postmodernity, let us analysisthe two most important representative of modernity theory and postmodernity theory——Marshall McLuhan and Jean Baudrillard.
As a scholar who has an important status and profound influence in the history of communication research, Marshall McLuhan has a reputation which once went through repeated rises and falls. He published his most influential book ‘understanding Media’ in 1964. This book quickly become popular and more and more debates and discusses to his theory of that time. In Dan Laughey’s book ‘Key theme in media theory’ said that “McLuhan is perhaps the only media theorist to have become a media celebrity. Jean Baudrillard’s another best known and arguably the most exclusive theorist of postmodernity. He was regarded as the new McLuhan. His post-modern theory has a far-reaching impact on cultural theories and discourses on media, arts and society. What he calls “cyberblitz” constitute a new realm of experience and a new historical stage and type.
The Medium, declares McLuhan, is the message which is comes from his book ‘understanding media’. He said in the beginning of the book,
“In a culture like ours, long accustomed to splitting and dividing all things as a means of control, it is sometimes a bit of shock to be reminded that, in operational and practical fact, the medium is message.”
In his theory, the word ‘medium’ has widespread meanings and sweep up all technologies, therefore, not only television, cartoon, radio are medium, even bicycle, house and weapon are all medium. He looks forward to the philosophy’s theory of ontology and wants to use media to explain the progress and development of a society hinge. McLuhan is best known for the provocative thesis that the most important aspect of media is not to be located within issues connected to cultural content, but in the technical medium. (Nick, 2002, P121)
Many scholars said that McLuhan’s media theory a fresher way. When some realistic scholars research on communication effects and analysis the context of communication, this time McLuhan had saw the influence----- (media) technology restrict to content. His emphasis on medium over information, and it is more important on technology. Different medium technologies have different effects to the relationship between human beings and environment. This is the root of catch on to all kinds of medium, in relation to, ‘technical media theory’ appeal from this and come. He also viewed that media is not a tool which be used in all kinds of ways. However, he regards media as a part of our environment and always fading into background, becoming for all intents and purposes invisible, yet influencing and shaping us in a highly significant ways. In other words, McLuhan argued that, in effect, the medium is the milieu. He is a famous represent for modernity theory.(Lance and Edward,2005)
According McLuhan’s theory, technical media it oneself, more important than the content which it burden. In McLuhan’s eyes, medium more plays is one kind of intermediary agent role, and the “intermediary”, just is the fundamental characteristic of media. The” intermediary “, located between man and man, human and reality, and even between several generations. The more, media connects with human body’s sense organs and expand to outside, thus is formed “the extension of man”. He mentioned this in his book ‘understanding media’:
“That our human senses, of which all media are extensions, are also fixed charges on our personal energies, and that they also configure the awareness and experience of each one of us.”(McLuhan, 1967, P23)
Then he said his view may be perceived in another connection mentioned by the psychologist C. G. Jung:“Every Roman was surrounded by slaves. The slave and his psychology flooded ancient Italy, and every Roman became inwardly, and of course unwittingly, a slave, he became infected through the unconscious with their psychology. No one can shield himself from such an influence.”
Originally media (technology) easily be ignored, however, due to McLuhan’s view, suddenly it can be used to explanation for all of social activities. The development that every time of media all can change the way of people apperceive and interpret, so thoroughly change our society.
Indicate that Baudrillard’s reputation comes from his debts to McLuhan. JeanBaudrillard also has thought over three aspects relations: aesthetics, media and sense marking. He is the best known and arguably the most elusive theorist of postmodernity, who was been nominated for the position of the “French McLuhan”. He emphasis the importance of the medium rather than the message and argued that postmodern societies saturated by media and information technologies and have entered an age of simulation, and more particularly an age of third-order simulation. Dan Laughey explains the third order simulation clearly in his book key theme in media theory:
“Frist-order and second-order simulation maintain a relationship between reality and representations (signs) of reality-indeed, second-order simulation is the type celebrated by Benjamin. By contrast, third-order simulation amounts to a system of signs that bear no relation to reality or its representations, but function to conceal this absence of genuinely simulation.”
From a high technology media world what he see is a semiology world that the more message and the less meaning. He viewed this world as a new society which constitute by “simulacra”. In his book “Simulacra and Simulations”, he expresses his own idea that “our current society has replaced all reality and meaning with symbols and signs, and that human experience is of a simulation of reality”. Baudrillard, discussed the influence of media in his career and as much as McLuhan did before. He stressed that signification of media as meaning creation. Baudrillard wrote a review of Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media. In the review, he claimed that McLuhan's view "medium is the message" is very mechanization. However, after a few years, he created his own idea based on McLuhan’s formula. Baudrillard’s theory of media-saturated simulation owed much to McLuhan’s statement that: the medium is message. But his famous hyperreality theory is far than McLuhan’s thinking.
“There is not only an implosion of the message in the medium, there is , in the same movement, the implosion of the medium itself in real, the implosion of the medium and the real in a sort of hyperreal nebula, in which even the definition and distinct action of medium can no longer be determined”
Gary Genosko writes in his book that:
“For Baudrillard, implosion does not produce the intimacy of theGlobal Village. The new patterns of inclusive structuration postulated by McLuhan yieldtheir inverse: inertia, silence, indifference. Saturated by communication, human relations arereduced to points of “contact” or “telephasis.” Baudrillard here turns McLuhan’s sense ofimplosion inside out, but not toward explosion, by burying it in the indifference of the massform.”
”Comparative media theory” is characterized by its interest in the constitutive force of communications media as a social relation, and distinguishes itself from research in the field that in concerned with analyzing media content and its effects.
Finally, talk about how McLuhan and Baudrillard help people to understand media processes, media place and culture.
McLuhan divided media into 2 categories, cool medium and hot medium. Hot medium and cool medium are relatively speaking and base on how much information is provided. He thought that receiveshave nouse for providemuch oftheir senses and associations, it can easily understand hot medium, because it provides clearly information. Oppositely, cool medium need people use all of their senses and rich imagination. It also need and also need to participate in it.
McLuhanclassifying that the hot medium contains movie, radio, photograph, book, newspaper and so on. Cool medium contains TV, telephone, cartoon conversation and any others.
For Baudrillard, there are no distinguish between hot medium and cool medium. In his opinion, all dominant media is “cool”. All the information and communication
Douglas Kellner said in his article:
“That is, for Baudrillard all the media of information and communication neutralize meaning and involve the audience in a flat, one dimensional media experience which he defines in terms of a passive absorption of images, or a resistance of meaning, rather than the active processing or production of meaning.”
Baudrillard also conductedIn-depth analysis through various forms of media, trying to find the mass media "crime" ofthread of a spider and trail of a horse. For example, he put the TV ads as an important "evidence" to criticize the mass media.ForBaudrillard, television advertising is always a way to describe the goods that can attract the viewer's attention but not led to critical consciousness。Making the general public unknowingly be attracted and assimilated. Therefore, the purpose of television advertising is the most fundamental principal built as a consumer, meanwhile, it is also relieved the main racial reason。
According to compared and analysis two theorists’ theory. We can say that, if McLuhan is the only person who instructed the concept of media into the universal knowledge, then Baudrillard created his own theory base on McLuhan’s theory influence and he lifts the media to the level of the theory of philosophical knowledge so that being a heated discussion. His is this proves that, the ideas spread by them are different, nevertheless, they are accordant and complementary in essential, which proves a matter of fact that it is an inevitable choice of standing a multi-dimension of view on the media theory research.
