What is it about?

This article is about utilizing recent fiction and non-fiction, particularly World Literature to help explain how digital technology is changing our social environment. Originally, Professor Marshall McLuhan used his background and knowledge of English Literature in his pioneering efforts to understand media. The narrative here advocates building on, updating, and extending these practices for our times. More specifically, it utilizes a recent translation of Brazilian Machado de Assis’s classic Posthumous Memoir of Bras Cubas and other current titles as examples in this process. In addition, within the article, the spiral image emerges as a helpful means of representing and interpreting these works as well as advancing our knowledge and wisdom.

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Why is it important?

The importance of the article lies in its emphasis on reading as a important tool for understanding digital media. McLuhan was a voracious reader and one can pursue a similar course for entertainment and enlightenment utilizing electronic access to a wide variety of sources from around the world. Broadening one’s perspective with diverse material assists in interpreting technology impacts and current events is both worthwhile and enjoyable. Books referenced range from novels by the classic Brazilian writer Machado de Assis and Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie to recent titles by business strategist Geoffrey Moore, investment guru Ray Dalio, and astrophysicist Janna Levin.

Perspectives

The impetus for this article came in preparing a session for a conference in Rio de Janero to which I was very much looking forward. As part of the preparation and learning about the country, I happened on a recent translation of the Brazilian classic Bras Cubas. While I was not able to travel when the Covid pandemic was still lingering, the novel opened up World Literature for me as a source of delight and expanded insights on the impacts of Digital technology and other media. This article serves as a means for sharing these expanded perceptions and hopefully an inspiration for others in trying such a path.

Fred Cheyunski

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Celebrating and extending the literary roots of media ecology: Spiralling forward and upward in our times, Explorations in Media Ecology, March 2024, Intellect,
DOI: 10.1386/eme_00190_1.
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