“地球村”能否抹平世界的中心—边缘结构——评麦克卢汉的“地球村”

A Critical Review of Mcluhan's Global Village

在全球化、后工业化进程中,"地球村"是一个非常流行的词语,事实上,它已经成为一个用以理解当今世界的学术概念。这个概念是由麦克卢汉提出来的。由于麦克卢汉的作品主要是以文学的形式呈现出来的,没有对这个概念加以明确定义,以至于这个概念流行后,人们往往是在这个概念的表层含义上去加以理解和使用它。其实,这个概念包含着更多和更深的内涵。就现实而言,"地球村"的出现并没有改变世界的中心—边缘结构,反而使中心—边缘结构中的压迫力量得到了增强,而且作用形式也更加直接。应当看到,麦克卢汉所提出的"地球村"是一个比喻性的概念,它对于直观地描绘全球化是有着便于理解和把握的价值。但是,也正是这一优势,使麦克卢汉从"地球村"出发而回到了农业社会的村落那里去了,再一次在人类社会进步的转折点上塑造出一个空想主义的思想体系。

In the process of globalization and post-industrialization, Global Village, proposed by Marshall Mcluhan, is such an extremely popular term that can be used as an academic concept to understand the world. Mcluhan has never offered us a precise definition of the term, leading to the fact that it is misinterpreted without real understanding by later generations. Although Global Village is a concept with rich connotations, it makes little change in the global core-periphery structure and makes the structure stronger instead. It should be noted that Global Village, as a metaphor, allows us to recognize the globalization more directly, which makes Mcluhan, however, step back to the agricultural society when thinking about the future.