McLuhanitis. The reception of Marshall McLuhan in the Netherlands in the 1960s

Abstract

This thesis describes the reception of the media theorist Marshall McLuhan in the Netherlands in the 1960s; the decade in which his most famous books got published (e.g. Understanding Media, 1964). We have a look at how academics, journalists and young protesters reacted upon his media theories. Both McLuhan's work and his personality especially appealed to the youth generation of that time: youngsters were looking for a way to express their needs for social change. The way they reflected upon McLuhan's theories is analyzed in the light of both Karl Mannheim's generation theory and that of the Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS)in Birmingham. Furthermore, this thesis integrates interviews (oral history) with contemporary witnesses.