"There is nothing willful or arbitrary about the Innis mode of expression. Were it to be translated into perspective prose, it would not only require huge space, but the insight into the modes of interplay among forms of organisation would also be lost. Innis sacrificed point of view and prestige to his sense of the urgent need for insight. A point of view can be a dangerous luxury when substituted for insight and understanding. As Innis got more insight he abandoned any mere point of view in his presentation of knowledge. When he interrelates the development of the steam press with 'the consolidation of the vernaculars' and the rise of nationalism and revolution he is not reporting anybody's point of view, least of all his own. He is setting up a mosaic configuration or galaxy for insight … Innis makes no effort to "spell out" the interrelations between the components in his galaxy. He offers no consumer packages in his later work, but only do-it-yourself kits..."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Academics from CanadaCultural criticsPhilosophers from CanadaPeople from EdmontonHistorians from Canada
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
p. 216; this paragraph was quoted as "context (0) - THE INNIS MODE" by John Brunner, the epigraph or first chapter in his novel Stand on Zanzibar (1968)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Marshall_McLuhan
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Related Quotes
"The Homeric hero becomes a split-man as he assumes an individual ego. (p. 58)"
"The Greeks invented both their artistic and scientific novelties after the interiorization of the alphabet. (p. 66)"
"The alphabet is an aggressive and militant absorber and transformer of culture, as Harold Innis was the first to show…"
"The comic strip: upholder of Homeric culture. (p.19)"
"The world of the Greeks illustrates why visual appearances cannot interest people before the interiorization of alpha…"
"The Greek “point of view” in both art and chronology has little in common with ours but was much like that of the Mid…"
"Without an anti-environment, all environments are invisible. (p. 33)"
"Electricity does not centralize, but decentralizes. (p. 36)"
"The percept takes priority of the concept."
"The increase of visual stress among the Greeks alienated them from the primitive art that the electronic age now rein…"