191传播符号学传播符号学MediaTheory:TheTurnfromHumanismtoAnti-HumanismXianguangPeterZhangAbstract:Thisarticletracestheshiftinmediatheoryfromhumanismtoanti-humanism,orfromextensionismtoassemblagetheoryandmachinism.Thesuggestionisthattheanti-humanisticorientationilluminatesthehumanconditionevenbetter,especiallyinthepost-industrialanddigitalageswhenKafkaesqueabsurditycharacterizeshumanlife.Thearticlealsopoints,ifonlyinpassing,totherelevanceofinterologytomedia-theoreticinquiry.Keywords:extensionism，assemblage,machinism，aapparatus,megamachine,McLuhan,Deleuze,Flusser,MumfordD0I:10.13760/b.cnki.sam.202301015Thepeoniesallbloomedredoneday,Andthroughoutthetowmthenoblesonsgotdrunk.(Hori,2010,p.438)I.IntroductionGenerallyspeaking,mediastudieshavetwotraditions:theoneiscontent-orientedwhereastheotherismedium-oriented.Mediatheorybelongstothelatter.Itismoreorlesssynonymouswithmediaecology,andoverlapssignificantlywithTheepigraphcanbereadasafigurativedescriptionofmediaeffect.192符号与传媒(26)philosophyoftechnology,techno-ethics,andmediaphilosophy.Itisalsocloselyrelatedwithinteralitystudies.Formediaareinterologicalphenomena.TheatrophyandrevivaloftheinterologicalsensibilityintheWesthavealottodowiththeevolutionofmedia.Thisarticlecomparesthehumanistviewofmediawiththeanti-humanistview.MarshallMcLuhan's(1994)notionofmediaasextensionsofmanisanexampleoftheformer.Thediscussionofthelatterwillbelimitedtoassemblagetheoryandmachinism.I.Extensionism,ortheHumanistViewHumanityquahumanityischaracterizedbytheuseofitsbodyoritselfasthemeasureofallthings,includingnature,eventuallycreatingahuman-basedworld.Thisworldisanthropomorphic,anthropocentric,andanthropotropic(inthesamewayplantsarephototropic).Thecontrapuntalitybetweentechnicalobjectsandhumanspervadesthisartificialworld.Thereiscontrapuntalitybetweenhandandhandle,betweenkeyboardandfingers.TouseMcLuhan'sexpression,mediaarelikehumanity'smechanicalbride,whorestsherheadontheleftarmofthebridegroomandturnsalongwithhim.Inthefinalanalysis,theworldhumanit...
