Editing Written language (section)

=== Marshall McLuhan's perspective ===
The Canadian philosopher [[Marshall McLuhan]] (1911–1980) primarily presented his ideas about written language in ''[[The Gutenberg Galaxy]]'' (1962). Therein, McLuhan argued that the invention and spread of the [[printing press]], and the shift from [[oral tradition]] to written culture that it spurred, fundamentally changed the nature of human society. This change, he suggested, led to the rise of [[individualism]], [[nationalism]], and other aspects of modernity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Leech |first=G. N. |year=1963 |title=The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man |journal=The Modern Language Review |type=Book review |volume=58 |issue=4 |pages=542 |issn=0026-7937 |jstor=3719923}}</ref>

McLuhan proposed that written language, especially as reproduced in large quantities by the printing press, contributed to a linear and sequential mode of thinking, as opposed to the more holistic and contextual thinking fostered by oral cultures. He associated this linear mode of thought with a shift towards more detached and objective forms of reasoning, which he saw as characteristic of the modern age.  Furthermore, he theorized about the effects of different media on human consciousness and society. He famously asserted that "[[the medium is the message]]", meaning that the form of a medium embeds itself in any message it would transmit or convey, creating a symbiotic relationship by which the medium influences how the message is perceived.

While McLuhan's ideas are influential, they have also been critiqued and debated. Some scholars argue that he overemphasized the role of the medium (in this case, written language) at the expense of the content of communication.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lister |first=Martin |title=New Media: A Critical Introduction |publisher=Routledge |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-415-43161-3}}</ref> It has also been suggested that his theories are overly deterministic, not sufficiently accounting for the ways in which people can use and interpret media in varied ways.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Carey |first=James W. |title=Communication as Culture |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-203-92891-2 |editor-last=Carey |editor-first=James W. |edition=Rev. |pages=96–112 |chapter=Overcoming Resistance to Cultural Studies |doi=10.4324/9780203928912-12 |editor-last2=Adam |editor-first2=G. Stuart}}</ref>