Toronto School's School Theory

First of all, innis's "media bias" theory.

Harold innis (1894- 1952) is a master scholar and an interdisciplinary wizard. With his outstanding achievements in many fields, such as political economy, economic history, communication, and the history of civilization, he became the pioneer of Toronto Communication School.

Innis's early research focused on Canadian economic history, and his later research focused on communication, media and civilization. Two representative works, Prejudice of Communication (195 1) and Empire and Communication (1950), became classics of communication in later generations.

Innis put forward the theory that "media is biased" from the perspective of the relationship between media and authority. For him, the communication network is very important, whether from the information loaded by various communication networks or from its wider influence on various social organizations. Any particular media is biased in time and space. In other words, a medium will have an important impact on the transmission of knowledge in space and time. This relative emphasis on temporal or spatial factors means that the culture implanted in it will have a deviation in meaning. Before the arrival of the printing era, parchment, clay, stone and other heavy materials were the dominant media biased towards time, and they were difficult to spread by means of space, so they were a kind of media that could withstand the erosion of time. Because this kind of media can be closely linked with the physical existence in a specific place, they are relatively stable social phenomena, which can link the past, the present and the future. On the contrary, those light papyrus belong to "space-biased media", which are easier to move to other places, prefer the development of various administrative relations across space, and promote the development of secular system and political authority in the direction of decentralization. "Time-biased media" helps to establish authority, form a hierarchical social system and maintain the traditional centralized religious form. From the cultural point of view, time means sacredness, morality and history, which is closely related to the development of history, tradition, religion and hierarchy. Space means the present and the future, and technology and secularity mean the rise and expansion of the empire, which is related to the realistic secular political power. Time culture is a culture of faith, afterlife, etiquette and moral order; Space culture is a secular, scientific, material and unconstrained culture. Obviously, in any culture, these two values play a role, one is explicit and the other is implicit. It is not difficult to see that innis viewed civilization, especially the rise and fall of empire, from the dialectical point of view of two opposing knowledge monopolies based on time bias or space bias.

A civilization can only achieve the balance between the spatial tendency and the temporal tendency of the media in very rare historical periods, such as classical Greece, Renaissance Italy and Elizabethan England. In innis's view, western civilization is in extreme danger of falling apart because it can't handle the problem of time. The battlefield experience of the First World War told him that western civilization is an aggressive civilization and an expansionary civilization. Great empires such as Britain, Germany, the United States and France fought bloody battles for resources, territory and markets. Countries like Canada have also felt great pressure, especially the economic monopoly and cultural monopoly of the United States and the further expansion of commercialism, which makes Canadian culture have to adapt to American standards, thus "falling into a dilemma of competing with and imitating the United States." [1] In Canada's own newspaper system and broadcasting system, the influence of the United States is also everywhere. Even Canada's political life is suppressed by American foreign policy and is in danger of being distorted. The great advantages of the United States at that time, especially the advantages of advanced communication technology in the United States, made him feel depressed and desperate. For the dignity and development of his country, for the sake of preserving, developing and expounding Canada's cultural and civilized traditions, for the sake of studying Canada's characteristics and national character, and for the sake of resisting the oppression of Canada by the southern powers, innis began to devote himself to studying his country and Canada's macro-economy. He believes that Canada should not be marginalized, but should seek economic independence and cultural and academic development.

For innis, western civilization not only broke the balance of time and space, but also brought serious consequences and crises. In his view, if we blindly lean to time or space, it will cause social instability. In fact, a stable society should maintain a balanced mechanism between time deviation and space deviation. However, for a long time, western civilization has been lacking in interest in the continuation of time. This country has always been interested in territorial expansion and the imposition of cultural identity. Innis believes that a true civilization should have the following characteristics: "Culture continues in time and extends in space. All cultures should reflect their influence in time and space. " . [2] Because of this, he especially praised the oral tradition, especially the oral tradition of ancient Greece, and thought that the tradition reached the ideal state of balance between time bias and space bias. In his view, the achievements of Greek civilization reflect the power of spoken language. Because Homer's epic, born in the oral tradition of Greece, shows the importance of space. The flexibility of oral tradition enabled the Greeks to balance the concepts of space and time under the city-state system. Innis regards printing and photography as a return to the tradition of writing, and "a return to a civilization that is dominated by eyes rather than ears". [3] "is a kind of" visual standard communication ". Innis realized that the monopoly generated by this kind of communication posed a devastating threat to western civilization, and created the illusion of slogans such as democracy, freedom of the press and freedom of speech. Therefore, innis imagined that the long-term use of a medium would determine the characteristics of the knowledge to be disseminated to a certain extent, and the popularity of this mode of communication would eventually create a civilization that is difficult to preserve its vitality and spirituality. The advantage of new media is that it will lead to the birth of new civilization [4]. Obviously, innis hopes to sound a wake-up call to the western civilization that relies heavily on space expansion through his "media bias theory", and hopes that westerners can see the prejudice of their own civilization more clearly and understand the characteristics of their own civilization with a more modest attitude when considering the significance of the media to various civilizations. Because in the history of civilization development, it is seldom possible to balance the spatial bias and time bias of the media. Maintaining the balance between time bias and space bias of the media is undoubtedly a good way to overcome the crisis of western civilization. Whether we can overcome the media bias that overemphasizes any time and space level is the key to the continued existence of large-scale political structures. Innis claimed and asserted that large-scale political structures "often prosper under such conditions: the tendency of more than one media is reflected in civilization; As far as the western world is concerned, "it is still a question whether such a government system can be developed, in which the prejudice of communication can be suppressed and the importance of space and time can be evaluated". [⑤]

Generally speaking, innis's "media bias theory" has a profound interdisciplinary background of economic history and political economy. His historical "grand narrative" and holistic literary research methods are obviously different from the analytical and non-holistic media research methods made by scholars of his time. From the perspective of human civilization history and Canadian local economic history, innis pays attention to the role of media technology in the process of civilization development, and his media research has strong realistic concern and humanistic concern. Although some people have questioned his theory of "media bias", others think that his theory has some limitations of "technological determinism". [6] However, innis's view that the dominant media will inevitably affect the development of history and society, especially his critical thinking on modern western civilization that overemphasizes the power of material science and technology and ignores the power of morality, still gives great enlightenment to future generations.

"media information expansion theory"

First, McLuhan's "media information expansion theory"

Marshall mcluhan (191-1980) is the most famous Canadian media prophet and thinker, and is the core and key figure of Toronto Communication School. Mcluhan was a traditional literary critic in his early days, and this tradition ended with the publication of his first book, Mechanical Bride: The Folklore of Industrial People (195 1). The 1950s was his transition period. He accepted Harold innis's theory, devoted himself to the study of cultural anthropology, and edited Exploration magazine of Toronto School. The 1960s was his mature period, and three monographs on communication-Gutenberg Galaxy: Making Movable Type People (1962), Understanding Media: Extension of Man (1964) and Media is Information (1967) were all in this period. Mcluhan's media theory was also constantly improved during this period.

Mcluhan borrowed innis's "tools" to develop his own media theory. Innis's research on history and economics provided a knowledge base, which enabled McLuhan to leap from studying the information being disseminated to studying the form of communication itself. Innis extended the analysis of bulk economic commodities to the exploration of communication patterns and media bias, which also gave McLuhan a lot of inspiration. In McLuhan's eyes, innis is the "best teacher" who can save students' time and provide a treasure house of literature, and he is the first person to discover the process of media technology change. On the other hand, McLuhan thinks that innis's contribution to communication studies is only a purely methodological thing. When evaluating the social effects of electronic media, their views are quite different. In McLuhan's view, it is a conservative idea that innis mistakenly brought broadcasting into visual culture. The visual power of print media lies in expanding the monopoly control of space, and the auditory power of electronic media lies in abolishing the artificial distinction between time and space. Mcluhan believes that electronic technology is perceptual, universal and decentralized, and electronic technology emphasizes integrity and organic rather than fragmentation and machinery. [⑦]

Unlike innis, McLuhan's research focuses not on the relationship between communication and social organizations, but mainly on the influence of media on human sensory center. The book Goldberg's Stars shows his deep thoughts on the emotional and cultural consequences caused by records and printed matter. In his view, every new media technology has fascinating power, because it separates all kinds of feelings, and among tribesmen, all kinds of feelings generally exist perfectly symmetrically. When any kind of feeling or body function is embodied in the form of technology, there will be functional division of labor and proportional changes between feelings. For example, phonetic symbols have achieved the first key breakthrough between eyes and ears, between semantic meaning and visual symbolic meaning. Different from hieroglyphics or voiced words, phonetic alphabet is semantically meaningless letters to mark semantically meaningless sounds. Because it expands and strengthens the visual function, it reduces the role of other senses such as hearing, touch and taste in writing culture. Mcluhan pointed out that "by linking meaningless pronunciation with meaningless symbols, we have established the form and meaning of westerners." [8] The invention of printing consolidated and expanded the new role of vision in the application of knowledge, provided the first batch of reproducible goods, and completed the alienation process of * * * enjoyment (that is, an "audible and tangible" lifestyle) between people and primitive tribes. Printing is very different from recording in writing. Printed books automatically strengthen the effect of phonetic symbols, because it intensifies visual prejudice and further divides the feeling life. As a result, it makes reading a more personalized silent behavior. The convenience of carrying books has also produced a new respect for individualism. Mcluhan believes that the printing media not only provides cultural resources for the unified form of the nation, but also promotes various individual concepts. Goldberg, a German printer, successfully printed the Bible in Latin for the first time in the middle of15th century, which enabled the printing media to simultaneously transform space and time into something that can be calculated, predicted and rational. The rational influence of printing presses paved the way for the concepts of maps, train timetables and perspective paintings. Mcluhan believes that the arrival of printing culture is particularly obvious, which develops some human senses (vision) and forms a special form of human reason. The development of printing promoted the standardization of dialects, expanded the space for communication, cultivated people's loyalty to abstract nations (their voices, faces and touches can be heard relative to the loyalty of people who live with them in tribal culture), and promoted the substitution of nation-states for city-states. [⑨]

Mcluhan is a pan-media theorist. Various technical tools and inventions, such as electric lights, wheels, railways, airplanes, etc. In his eyes, it has become a medium and a great extension of human sensory organs or body functions. For him, writing and printing media are an extension of the eyes of the visual organs, broadcasting is an extension of the ears of the auditory organs, and television is an extension of the sensory organs of the whole body. As mentioned above, McLuhan puts special emphasis on electronic media, especially television. In his view, the electronic media has broken the old concept of time and space, making the distance between people suddenly shortened, and the whole world has become a "global village". Electronic media make people experience the contact and communication in tribal culture again, and make human society return to tribal culture from national culture at an advanced stage.

Cool media gradually replaces hot media, which is the best representation of the relationship between the change of electronic media and the evolution of modern experience attributes. According to McLuhan, the so-called hot media is a kind of media with rich information content that is not allowed to participate. On the contrary, cold media can leave more participation space for the audience and show lower information intensity. The "cold media" in McLuhan's works mainly include television, telephone, cartoons and conversations. "Popular media" mainly refers to movies, radio, photos, books, newspapers and periodicals. In his view, "hot media" such as movies are centralized and authoritative, and producers need to transfer their audiences to another world; However, the cold media practice such as television has left more imagination space for the audience and provided more opportunities for the expression of regional dialects, so it is a more decentralized media. As far as McLuhan is concerned, most TV images are unrealistic, so in his view, this just makes the audience become more equal partners in the process of generating meaning, thus promoting the audience's deep participation. Mcluhan believes that the shift from media to electronic communication has changed innis's time-space prejudice and has a far-reaching impact. Mcluhan claimed that under modern conditions, various cultural forms "immediately and continuously rolled in to us" [10]. The interaction between modern subjects and communication networks is no longer limited to a few hours before going to bed. The life of global citizens seems to be wrapped in endless material and symbolic communication. People read newspapers on buses and trains, receive morning news on car radios, joggers can listen to books and records during exercise, and people can have sex while watching TV. The information transmission of modernity has become a "rotating and changeable scene". Communication system keeps people in direct contact with different viewpoints. In this way, the harmony between time and space disappears, and everyone has a relationship with others. The rapid development of various new media has destroyed the visual prejudice of written communication forms, and made citizens all over the world return to a culture that has many similarities with the culture of oral society. The global village abandoned the hierarchical, unified and personalized printing culture and replaced it with a more tangible synchronous culture.

Mcluhan's media theory has the characteristics of peculiar wording, free and easy style, novel viewpoint and profound thought. His contributions to media studies and cultural studies are as follows: he always insists on studying the production of various forms of media and information and its influence on individuals, society and culture; He enlighteningly revealed the important role of new media technology, especially electronic media, in reconstructing human social life. Of course, at the same time, he exaggerates the role of electronic media and has obvious tendency of technological determinism.

"cultural skin theory"

Second, Derek Dekov's "Cultural Skin Theory"

At present, the McLuhan project in the field of culture and technology of the University of Toronto is the main source of media theory of Toronto School. The Institute is the most outstanding media research institution in North America and even in the world. Mainly within the framework of McLuhan's theory, on the basis of each scholar's own research topic, this paper studies the influence of the development of the latest science and technology or media technology on culture and society from both theoretical and practical aspects. They developed and surpassed the research contents and fields of the early Toronto School. As the head of the Institute and the academic successor of Toronto School, Derrick De Kerckhove)20 has been contributing to the continuous debate on the final impact of communication and media technology in Toronto for more than 20 years.

(Professor Derek Dekov)

Derek's research interests are mainly based on the cyberspace of virtual reality and the new media experience brought by cyberspace culture. Skin of Culture (1995) is the most important book among all Derek's works. It was once listed as a best seller in Canada, so it was awarded the title of "media prophet". On the basis of predecessors' theories, Derek expanded and deepened their views and thoughts in this book, forming Derek's own creative and inflammatory theory. [ 1 1]

Derek discussed the final shaping effect of communication technology and electronic media on human society with the courage of prophet and academic courage. He believes that mankind is currently in a brand-new electronic age, in which we regard all mankind as our own skin. Electronic media caresses us and rubs its meaning under our skin, providing us with a "spiritual" reality outside our body and mind. Electronic media and cyberspace will change our psychological state, virtual reality technology will fill the gap between concept and reality, and we are creating a collective thinking beyond any individual wisdom. In Derek's view, virtual reality and telepresence robot is a new video technology, which puts forward the collective imagination as the object we can actually consume, and ensures that we can maintain individual autonomy in the powerful trend of psychological technology collectivization, so that we can project our consciousness outside our bodies and have an "objective" appearance. With the help of experiments, Derek told us that when people wander around in virtual reality, their whole bodies are in contact with the surrounding environment, just like the relationship between body and water in a swimming pool. The central theme of three-dimensional is penetration and depth, not just visual angle. In fact, the process of computer simulation is gradually extended to the tactile environment. Artificial intelligence, expert system and neural network are flooding into all media, and promoting the integration of audio, video, remote communication and computer technology through a wide range of digital integrated electronic technologies. From two-dimensional to three-dimensional, and then to the rapid development of tactile and force feedback sensory ability, we are being swallowed up by a rich electronic vortex.

Cyberspace based on virtual reality (VR) brings a new kind of "* * * empathy", which is a digital process. Through digitalization, all information sources, including material phenomena and natural processes, including human sensory simulation, such as simulation in virtual reality system, are unified into a digital string with the order of 0, 1. Any object in the virtual space is "symbol", "sound" and "image", not any entity. People will be able to choose how many bits of on-demand bandwidth (that is, information units per second) they need at any time and pay for it, which is called "pay by bit" or "bandwidth on demand". This is the most democratic, economical and effective way to connect the whole country. Viewers and listeners will buy time and the content they need in a "pay-per-view" addressable database network. Derek believes that mankind is entering the third media era: the era of network culture. With the help of telephone and computer network, we can go anywhere and interact with that place. With the help of electron microscope and nuclear magnetic resonance instrument, we can go deep into the infinitesimal fields such as molecules, genes and atomic structures that human beings have never entered before, and now we are building microstructures and atomic engines for these fields, which are becoming markets that manufacturing industries cannot meet. Network intelligence environment has brought a new era of thinking to public space and public sphere. The internet developed on the earth connects the public mind with the private mind. In this way, the old system based on open and neutral space and political and economic space management must give way to the new system based on IP address, speed and access control. In the future remote computer network, with the radio and television system being broken down into smaller and smaller units, individuals will become consumers and producers, and their creativity will make them become "prosumers" as the prophet toffler said.

Derek Dekov never pursues the so-called profound theoretical system, and he rarely explains and demonstrates his theoretical views in detail like some theorists. On the contrary, he likes to make use of multidisciplinary resources he is familiar with or interested in, and through interdisciplinary research and practice, put forward creative, predictive, bold and wise media ideas, thus achieving unprecedented comprehensive height and profound penetration.

So far, it is not difficult to see that the Toronto School of Communication, represented by Harold innis, marshall mcluhan and Derek Dekov, has made great contributions to the development of communication and cultural studies. Through interdisciplinary comparative research, they put media technology in the background of the development of human civilization. They focus on the relationship between media technology and the whole culture, revealing the significance of media beyond the content meaning, including the process of media and economy, the nature of media technology and the characteristics of power structure, the formal characteristics of media and social and cultural characteristics, and the characteristics of media and people's sensory and psychological activities. Contrary to the research tradition of focusing on the information content spread by the media, they created a concern for media technology. The new research tradition, which runs through the history of civilization development with the history of media technology as the main line, provides a unique perspective and method for future generations to fully understand the influence of various media on human civilization, which has far-reaching enlightenment significance.