影像與傳播－－閱讀麥克魯漢

Image and Communication: Read McLuhan

本文旨在探討媒體理論家麥克魯漢（Marshall McLuhan）的理論大要，對於影像理論的可能啟發和重新提問。首先，我們探討音響空間和視覺空間這一組對立的概念，其生成和細膩的發展。我們發現，音響空間和視覺空間並不是感官特性的直接轉譯或世界觀的感官決定論，而是一種主導性感知模式的提出。接著，運作這組對立概念，我們整理出位於麥克魯漢理論基底的文明進程觀察：前識字音響空間、識字期視覺空間、後視字音響空間；而其中主導的感知模式為：聽覺、視覺、聽-觸覺及感官的交互作用。由這裏出發，我們更細膩地觀察「整全拼花視象」、「電影的觀看文化」、「印刷平面中的攝影影像」等主題，從而確立麥克魯漢觀點下「視覺文化」的意義及多重媒空間的影像傳播脈絡。最後，本文處理了最近兩位麥克魯漢思想詮釋者所提出的問題：一，攝影在現代技術媒體中的獨特地位、二，「如何閱讀麥克魯漢？」。

From the general outline of the theory of the media thinker Marshall McLuhan, we try to retrieve some new ideas and interrogations for the theory of images. Firstly, we discuss the opposition between the acoustic space and the visual space, which, after examination of its genesis and development, should not be understood as a direct translation of the characteristics of a specific sense or a sensual determinism of the world vision. It describes rather a dominating mode of cognition. Secondly, we outline the central process of civilization underpinning the theory of McLuhan: the Preliterate Acoustic space, the Literate Visual space, Post-Literate Acoustic space, where the respective dominating mode of cognition is acoustic, visual, auditory-tactical and interplays between the senses. We then investigate the themes like "integral mosaic vision", "the visual literacy of the movie" and "the photographical image on the pressed matter". The signification of "visual culture" is thus reworked in a multi-media contextThe propositions of two recent commentators of McLuhan are discussed at the end: 1. the photography as an exception among the modern technological media, 2. "How should McLuhan be read?".