Véronique Lemay

REALITY THROUGH SOCIETIES

COMS 240
Communication Theory

Synthesis Paper presented to Eric Powell
Tutorial Section 1

November 11th, 2013 Through my quest of assessing how communication helps construct reality in societies, I have selected two influential authors in order to assemble correlated concepts and theories to present this synthesis. Firstly, known as a controversial figure of media expansion, Marshall McLuhan expressed his debatable idea of “The Medium is the Message” in his book “Understand Media” written in 1964, as he explained that the media themselves are the very emphasis we should look upon to the contrary of the content they convey. Secondly, James Carey, sharp critic of McLuhan, was best known for identifying the space partiality of modern civilization and was described by Lance Strate (2007) as excellent at “uncovering interrelationships among ideas, perspectives and school of thoughts” (p.177). With this intention, I will compare and contrast how Marshall Mcluhan and James Carey differ in their conception of how communication shapes reality, arguing that Marshall McLuhan concept of the message extracted from the medium constructing reality is superior to James Carey’s theory because his concept of the “medium being the message” emphasizes difference between how and which information is transmitted. To illustrate how Marshall McLuhan’s theory is stronger in terms of constructing reality, this synthesis will discuss how symbols are produced and used as the basis of communication, how society is maintained through transmission and finally, how mediums are the main cause of social changes in societies.

Communication produces reality by the structure, apprehension and application of symbolic forms, presented of and created for reality (Carey, 1989). Symbolic forms are characterized by two categorized attributes, which are applied in different modes: forms of displacement and productivity (Carey, 1989). These modes or techniques include gestures, words and drawings, which personify different symbolic forms (Carey, 1989). A symbol, according to its definition in the Longman Dictionary, is a picture or shape that has a particular meaning or represents a particular organization or idea. Carey (1989) defines the characteristic of displacement as a capacity that is employed when one self attempts to outline or portray a thing when this particular thing is not actually present. Subsequently, the attribute of productivity applied to each of these symbolic forms is described by Carey (1989) as “for a person in command of the symbols is capable of producing an infinite number of representations on the basis of a finite number of symbolic elements” (p. 28). In consequence, Carey accounts the possibility of these symbols on a small scale, here referring to a unique individual when writing about productivity. Marshall McLuhan (1964), author of “The Medium is the Message”, comes into play with a different approach, thinking of a symbol’s productivity as being made possible by communication technologies, which produce and reproduce information shared among a wide diversified audience. McLuhan (1964) sustains that mediums such as writing and printing more precisely, were the very trigger for the spread of knowledge that consequently reinforced the quality of symbols to be used as standard practices (Burke & Briggs, 2009). Communication mediums were exploited in the context of transcribing and broadcasting language, defined by Peters (2008) as “sounds, grammars and systems of meanings” (p. 3), to store and transmit symbols across space and time. Perceived as simplified representations, symbols produce different realities as information is being reduced in a more clarified way. Indeed, Carey (1989) explains this theory with the example of a city map, demonstrating that “not all the features of an environment are modeled, for the purpose of the representation is to express not the possible complexity of things but their simplicity” (p.28). Therefore, maps are an illustration of reality which “bring the same environment alive in different ways” (Carey, 1989, p. 28). McLuhan counterbalances what Carey implies, by investigating the properties of the form rather than its content, even if its idea is a representation of reality (Rosen, 1990). McLuhan (1964) claims that the medium allowing those symbolic representations underlines the fact that it is the technology on which the map is presented that simplifies reality. Hence, reality is produced for new generations to build on with the use of the same symbols that present and create reality (Carey, 1989).

Society is maintained in reality as Dewey explains that it “exists in transmission, in communications” by creating and sharing information (as cited in Carey, 1989, p. 13-14). Carey (1989) considers transmission to be the center of communication, delivering signals or messages to seize the opportunity of control over distance. The expansion of European Colonial Empires was the main force of change that seek to extend their reach through new media and transportation, in order to gain power over this future networked world (Sussman, 2009). Accordingly, in 1858, the 1st telegraph cable was installed across the Atlantic ocean, which was the 1st media technology to separate transportation from communication (Sussman, 2009). Carey’s (1989) statement of a dreamed view of communication can finally by satisfied with this unprecedented medium, as he wrote, “the desire to increase the speed and effect of messages as they travel in space” (p. 15). This view was conceived based on the idea that reality would be reconstituted, omitting the time factor to obtain immediate communication, where instantaneity could be achieved despite being physically long distanced. Carey (1989) cites a nineteenth century commentator who distinguished the function of the telegraph as “the transmission of thought” (p.17), on which Carey (1989) adds that it is “an ideal device for the conquest of space and populations” (p.17). McLuhan’s (1964) view of transmission relies on the way information is transmitted, as opposed to which elements are being communicated. Indeed, he invites his audience to consider the impact of how information is conveyed across, presenting the idea that the communication medium itself is the power to which reality is extended (McLuhan, 1964). McLuhan’s theory relates to how Sussman (2009) describes the telegraph as an axis of transmission and inscription, being the very foundation of the telecommunications revolution. Sussman (2009) also considers the telegraph, among railways and steam, to have stimulated the ideology of progress as a duty of bringing connection to transform the world, to shrink the world’s map. Therefore, McLuhan (1964) sustains that thoughts being transmitted for control purposes through communication devices were not the origins of the revolution, as he insists that the medium itself carries its own message by being the true agent of change in societies. Additionally, the telegraph was idealized as a spiritual device “inspired for the purposes of spreading the Christian message farther and faster, eclipsing time and transcending space” (Carey, 1989, p. 17). To this quest of converting citizens into faithful Christians, Miller (1965) comments that “unanimity […] was wrought by the telegraph and the press” (p.17), which almost gathered populations together in one praying intercourse (as cited in Carey, 1989). McLuhan (1964) would specify that unanimity is an effect of communication technologies, as mediums help construct reality to the fact that individuals live among other human beings; these devices were the reason for unanimity, which was the consequence for the reach of populations to create a connected world. Given these arguments, reality is maintained through societies as transmission exists in communication, which is defined by Carey (1989) as a method and a technology in order to “spread, transmit, and disseminate knowledge, ideas, and information farther and faster with the goal of controlling space and people” (p. 17).

Communication technologies transform societies as they help construct reality, being the principal sources of social changes (Rogers, 2000). Dewey (1939), author of “Experience and Nature”, claims that “of all things communication is the most wonderful” (p. 13), as communication is, according to Carey (1989), the foundation of human camaraderie. Fellowship is therefore described by Carey (1989) as “social bonds, bogus or not, that tie men together and make associated life possible” (p. 22), to which Dewey adds: “Men live in a community in virtue of the things which they have in common; and communication is the way in which they come to possess things in common” (As cited in Carey, 1989, p. 22). As this camaderie is reinforced in reality through the use of communication mediums, McLuhan (1964) emphasizes the fact that these technologies empower individuals to constantly be connected to one another, implying that what links them together are these mediums. Under those circumstances, Carey (1989) demonstrates that “society is possible because of the binding forces of shared information circulating in an organic system” (p.22). The content circulating to the maintenance of society between individuals merely reflect reality as this flow of information changes constantly. McLuhan’s (1964) theory shows that the different mediums through which information is broadcasted remain unchanging, thus acting as the true message depicting the constant reality of societies. Consequently, these technologies reflect our lifestyle, as opposed to the information transmitted, which contribute to Xianhong and Guilan’s (2009) statement asserting that “it is the media format that affects and changes the entire society” (p. 376). Therefore, Carey (1989) portrays reality as “a vast production, a staged creation – something humanly produced and humanly maintained” (p. 26). Indeed, humans are the very existence that allows communication to be and to progress. The objective to facilitate communication yield technologies that are used to be part of this networked world, underlying the fact that these creations uncover a message that produces and maintains reality in societies (McLuhan, 1964). With this intention, Xianhong and Guilan’s (2009) affirm, “the medium itself represents a new message of the age” (p. 376), assessing that media technology is the standard of modern communication. Thus, reality transforms societies into a new world, as McLuhan’s (1964) establishes that communication mediums are the very message for progress, considering that the form of a medium is the agent of change in the world and can alter the process of thinking (Xianhong and Guilan, 2009). As has been noted, I argue in this synthesis paper that Marshall McLuhan’s concept of the medium being the message is superior to James Carey’s theory, because his concept of “the medium is the message” accentuates the distinction between the way information is communicated and what content is being transmitted. For the purpose of demonstrating how communication help construct reality, I reviewed Carey’s (1989) theories and concluded that they converge to the idea that the message, being the transmission of symbols, reflect reality rather than compose it as the content is inconstant. As for McLuhan (1964), his concept convert the message in order to transpose it to the medium itself, claiming that the medium, being the message, helps construct reality as it remains permanent. Thus, reality is produced, maintained and repaired for new generations to build on, which is made possible through different communication mediums that represent the very heritage to future generations (Carey, 1989). Reality is also transformed in the perspective to create a new world, where the medium would be the very message that defines progress (Carey, 1989). As a final point, Carey’s (1989) vision of the symbols being transmitted into a message is the first step to which McLuhan’ (1964) theory is being elevated to say that the message lies within the medium itself.

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