媒介史的末世預言：基德勒與麥克魯漢論媒介技術

Eschatological Prophets in Media History: Friedrich Kittler and Marshall McLuhan on Media Technology

黃順星(Huang, Shun-Shing)

《傳播研究與實踐》 7卷2期 (2017/07) Pp. 63-92

https://doi.org/10.6123/JCRP.2017.015

摘要

1960年代麥克魯漢主張媒介即訊息，強調媒介形式對訊息內容及人類文明的影響。1990年代繼之而起的德國媒介理論家基德勒，以更激進的態度，主張技術先行的媒介決定人類處境。本文從兩位理論家相近的媒介史分斷為起點，分析兩人究竟如何判定媒介的主導性力量、媒介的主導性力量又產生那些影響。最後以技術決定論對兩位理論家的批評，思索媒介理論與媒介史研究的意義。

關鍵字

基德勒 ； 麥克魯漢 ； 媒介史 ； 技術決定論

並列摘要

In the 1960s, media scholar Marshall McLuhan claimed ＂the medium is the message,＂ emphasizing the influence of media on civilization. McLuhan understood that media are not simply mechanical objects but profoundly human responses to sensory. Thirty years later, the German media theorist Friedrich Kittler adopted a radical ＂technological a priori＂ attitude, and asserted that ＂media determine our situation.＂ In Kittler's archaeology of media, the passage from writing to new ＂mechanical storage technologies＂ - in other words, from the Gutenberg galaxy to the Marconi constellation - is not simply a mutation in the history of aesthetics but a revolution in the mass media as technologies of power. Beginning with the somewhat similar propositions of these two theorists regarding the historical development of media, this article examines media history, focusing on how McLuhan and Kittler discussed media dominance and the influence of media power. Finally, drawing on critiques of technological determinism, this article discussed and reflected on the significance of McLuhan and Kittler for media theories and research on media history.

並列關鍵字

Friedrich Kittler ； Marshall McLuhan ； media history ； technological determinism

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