著者

新倉 貴仁

出版者

成城大学大学院文学研究科

雑誌

コミュニケーション紀要 (ISSN:02887843)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.27, pp.1-11, 2016-03

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Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities (1983)has been considered to be one of the mostsignificant pieces of literature on the relationship between nationalism and media. However, it has been often overlooked that Anderson's concept of nationalism is heavily influenced by Marshall McLuhan's arguments on printing media in The Gutenberg Galaxy(1962).The aim of this article is to reframe the relationship between nationalism and media by revisiting McLuhan's arguments on industrial society.Firstly, The Gutenberg Galaxy is reframed as an outstanding theoretical work on nationalism. It sheds light on the history of mechanical reproduction, which catalyzed the formation and spread of nationalism.Secondly, The Mechanical Bride(1952), which underlies The Gutenberg Galaxy as well as The Understanding Media(1964), is reconsidered as an outstanding attempt to scrutinize contemporary society in the context of the huge transformation resulting from the progress of industrial technologies.In conclusion, McLuhan's work, focusing on nationalism in the context of the industrial society, provides us with an effective viewpoint from which to rethink the problem of nationalism even in the context of contemporary globalization and the advent of information society.