Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse and Alchemy

367 Pages·2014·1.41 MB·English

by  B.W. Powe

MARSHALL MCLUHAN AND NORTHROP FRYE
Apocalypse and Alchemy
Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye are two of Canada’s central cul-
tural fi gures – colleagues and rivals whose careers unfolded in curious
harmony even as their intellectual engagement was antagonistic. Poet,
novelist, essayist, and philosopher B.W. Powe, who studied with both of
these formidable and infl uential intellectuals, presents an exploration
of their lives and work in Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye: Apocalypse
and Alchemy .
Powe considers the existence of a unique visionary tradition of Cana-
dian humanism and argues that McLuhan and Frye represent fraught
but complementary approaches to the study of literature and to the
broader engagement with culture. Examining their eloquent but often
acid responses to each other, Powe exposes the scholarly controversies
and personal confl icts that erupted between them, and notably the great
commonalities in their writing and biographies. Using interviews, let-
ters, notebooks, and their published texts, Powe offers a new alchemy
of their thought, in which he combines the philosophical hallmarks of
McLuhan’s “The medium is the message” and Frye’s “the great code.”
b.w. powe is an associate professor and the Creative Writing Program
coordinator in the Department of English at York University.
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Marshall McLuhan
and Northrop Frye
Apocalypse and Alchemy
B.W. POWE
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS
Toronto Buffalo London
© University of Toronto Press 2014
Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
Printed in Canada
ISBN 978-1-4426-4811-1 (cloth)
ISBN 978-1-4426-1616-5 (paper)

Printed on acid-free, 100% post-consumer
recycled paper with vegetable-based inks.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Powe, B. W. (Bruce W.), 1955–, author
Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye : apocalypse and alchemy / B.W. Powe.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1-4426-4811-1 (bound).—ISBN 978-1-4426-1616-5 (pbk.)
1. McLuhan, Marshall, 1911–1980. 2. Frye, Northrop, 1912–1991. 3. McLuhan, M arshall,
1911–1980—Criticism and interpretation. 4. Frye, Northrop, 1912–1991—Criticism a nd
interpretation. 5. Mass media specialists—Canada—Biography. 6. Critics—Canada—
Biography. 7. Mass media and culture. 8. Criticism. 9. Humanism.
I. Title. II. Title: Apocalypse and alchemy.
P92.5.M3P69 2014 302.23092 C2013-908759-1
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the fi nancial assistance to its
publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the
Ontario Arts Council.
This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Canadian
Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards
to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
University of Toronto Press acknowledges the fi nancial support of the Government
of Canada through the Canada Book Fund for its publishing activities.
For Paul Francis Earley (1957–2010)
Because he loved ideas
For Jeremy Earley
Because he loves music
For Kathleen Powe-Earley
Because she is brave
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Prologue: The Juncture of Marshall McLuhan
and Northrop Frye in 1946 3
1 Intentions and Overview: Apocalypse and Alchemy
in McLuhan and Frye 11
2 Presences and Signatures: These Figures in Their Ground 55
3 The Critical Confl ict between McLuhan and Frye 110
4 The Harmonies in Two Seers: Orchestrations
and Complementarities 169
5 Alchemy: Synergy in the Thinking of McLuhan and Frye 230
6 The Lessons of Two Teachers: Guidance and Signs 276
Notes 287
Bibliography 315
Index 337
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Acknowledgments
I wish to thank the following people for their advice and infl uence on
this book: Professors Ian Balfour, Susan Warwick, and Marcus Boon; also
David Staines, Janine Marchessault, and Mauro Buccheri. Many other
colleagues contributed to my research into this material: I thank in par-
ticular Dr Eric McLuhan and Dr Robert D. Denham, who illuminated
and confi rmed many essential details and provided me with access to
the archival sources that proved to be pivotal in my explorations into the
complexities of the Marshall McLuhan and Northrop Frye matrix. My
thanks too to Mrs Corinne McLuhan for the permission given years ago
to interview her and to quote from her husband’s books and letters. My
thanks to the Frye Archives for the same permission. Thank you to Eric
McLuhan, Robert Denham, Janine Marchessault, and Michael McLuhan
for their assistance. The majority of quotations in this book are taken
from works in the public domain. My editor at the University of Toronto
Press, Siobhan McMenemy, saw this manuscript through the long process
of readings and revisions. I am indebted to the notes and recommenda-
tions made by all those involved with the venerable press. I also a ppreciate
the work of copyeditor Barbie Halaby and project manager Mae Lum.
Many others supported and encouraged the work. It is important
to thank Julia Creet, Art Redding, Thomas Loebel, and Dean Robert
Drummond. I am also deeply indebted to the advice of Peter Paolucci
on computer technicalities and to Christopher Innes and Susan Swan,
who listened while I expanded on some of the ideas contained herein.
My students in the English department at York University inspired many
of the ideas I have proposed in this book. Prominent among these stu-
dents have been Karl Leschinsky, Monica Krawczyk, Sabrina Lightstone,
Jason Buccheri, Pedro Jacobetty, Joseph Glover, Lai-Tze Fan, Lisa