Understanding media: A fuzzy set of metaphors to think with

Marshall McLuhan’s root metaphor, media as extensions of humans, although not the only metaphor for media in his corpus, has dominated our theoretical imagination for a long time. Without denying its serviceability, this article ventures beyond McLuhan’s arch-metaphor to explore other ‘radical’ ways of understanding media. Each entry, if it generates enough dialogue, has the potential to evolve into a speculative project in its own right.

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Publication Details

Journal
Explorations in Media Ecology
Published
2025-12-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1386/eme_00272_7
Primary Topic
Media, Communication, and Education
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Understanding media: A fuzzy set of metaphors to think with

Peter Zhang
Explorations in Media Ecology
Media, Communication, and Education
article

Understanding media: A fuzzy set of metaphors to think with

Peter Zhang
article en

Abstract

Marshall McLuhan’s root metaphor, media as extensions of humans, although not the only metaphor for media in his corpus, has dominated our theoretical imagination for a long time. Without denying its serviceability, this article ventures beyond McLuhan’s arch-metaphor to explore other ‘radical’ ways of understanding media. Each entry, if it generates enough dialogue, has the potential to evolve into a speculative project in its own right.

Explorations in Media EcologyVol. 24(4)
Grand Valley State University (US)
Openalex Percentile: Top 14%
Media, Communication, and Education
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