Question

Discuss marshall mac luhan's global village theory.

Answer 1

My focus of attention in this thesis is the concept of the 'global village' articulated by Marshall McLuhan and the Internet as a case study through which to examine McLuhan's claims. In the introduction, I discuss very briefly the movement from oral to electronic communication, since McLuhan's notion of the 'global village' is part of his whole argument about oral and print culture. In the first chapter, I examine what McLuhan meant when he argued in the 1960's that a 'global village' is created by the repercussions of the new electromagnetic discoveries. In order to do this I consider his argument as a whole, and I also examine what the words 'global' and 'village' meant for him, taking into consideration factors that arise from his cultural context and also the influences on his academic career. In the second chapter, I consider whether the Internet is the 'global village' that McLuhan argued about. To do this I try to give a full account of what the Internet is, and what kinds of community it constructs and sustains.