Full Description
Until now, the academic foundations of media ecology have been passed down primarily in the form of edited volumes, often by students of Neil Postman, or are limited to a focus on Marshall McLuhan and/or Postman or some other individual important to the field. Those volumes are invaluable in pointing to key ideas in the field; they provide an important and informed account of the fundamentals of media ecology as set forth at the field's inception. Yet there is more to the story.
Offering an accessible introduction, and written from the perspective of a «second generation» scholar, this single-authored work provides a unified, systematic framework for the study of media ecology. It identifies the key themes, processes, and figures in media ecology that have coalesced over the last few decades and presents an elegant schema with which to engage future exploration of the role of media in shaping culture and consciousness.
Dennis D. Cali offers a survey of a field as consequential as it is fascinating. Designed to be used primarily in media and communication courses, the book's goal is to hone insight into the role of media in society and to extend the understanding of the themes, processes, and interactions of media ecology to an ever-broader intellectual community.
Contents
Foreword - Preface - Section One: Foundational Questions - What Is Media Ecology? - What Are the Primary Themes of Media Ecology? - What Are the Margins of Media Ecology? - Section Two: Canonical Figures - Marshall McLuhan—Canada's and the Field's Intellectual Comet - Walter J. Ong: Voice of Consciousness in Orality-Literacy - Jacques Ellul: Prophet of La Technique - Section Three: Orality-Literacy Studies - Orality-Literacy Studies - Section Four: Technology Studies - Technology Studies - Section Five: Culture Studies - Culture Studies - Section Six: Bias Studies - Bias Studies - Section Seven: Language Studies - Language Studies - Section Eight: "Doing" Media Ecology - Doing Media Ecology - Index.
