Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition (Understanding Media Ecology)
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.83 (500 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1433131218 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 258 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2016-02-27 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Media Ecology: An Approach to Understanding the Human Condition provides a long-awaited and much anticipated introduction to media ecology, a field of inquiry defined as the study of media as environments. Strate provides an in-depth examination of media ecology's four key terms: medium, which is defined in much broader terms than in other fields; bias, which refers to tendencies inherent in materials and methods; effects, which are best understood via the Aristotelian notion of formal causality and contemporary systems theory; and environment, which includes the distinctions between the oral, chirographic, typographic, and electronic media environments. Taking as its subject matter "life, the universe, and everything," Strate describes the field as interdisciplinary and communication-centered, provides a detailed explication of McLuhan's famous aphorism, "the medium is the message," and explains that the human condition can only be understood in the context of our biophysical, technological, and symbolic environments. Lance Strate presents a clear and concise explanation of an intellectual tradition concerned with much more than understanding media, but rather with understanding the conditions that shape us as human beings, drive human history, and determine the prospects for our survival as a species. A chapter on tools serves as a guide to further media ecological research and scholarship. This book is well suited
Strate is the author of Echoes and Reflections, On the Binding Biases of Time, Amazing Ourselves to Death: Neil Postman's Brave New World Revisited, and Thunder at Darwin Station. He is a recipient of the MEA's Walter Ong Award for Career Achievement in Scholarship.. He is President of the New York Society for General Semantics, Trustee and former Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics, Past President of the New York State Communication Association,
The clear writing about complex ideas is a pleasure to read and offers many gifts of understanding.”Joshua Meyrowitz, University of New Hampshire“With characteristic passion and soulfulness, Lance Strate embarks on a metatask: to synthesize thinking about ‘life, the universe and everything’ through the lens of media ecology. Along the way Strate shows how media ecology connects with all the major approaches to communication study.”Paul Soukup, Professor and Chair, Department of Communication, Santa Clara University“Lance