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theses

This study explores the relationship of Canadian prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and seminal media theorist Marshall McLuhan through an examination of their correspondence, which has never been studied as a discrete entity. The two men were at the forefront of discussions about critical issues of globalization, especially the political uses of media, at a time when globalization was not yet a recognized keyword in the literature. All this is reflected in the correspondence. There were almost 100 items, housed at Library and Archives Canada (LAC) in Ottawa, many of which have appeared in pieces in books written about either man; many of McLuhan’s are in a 1987 collection of his letters, published by Oxford University Press. Mainly, I searched through primary and secondary documents, though I did contact several of McLuhan’s children, spoke with a few people who knew either or both men and paid a visit to LAC. The letters form the second chapter of this dissertation, an intersection between Part I, which introduces them and my interest in them, and Part III, in which I take readers through the correspondence. Part IV is primarily a description of the personal journey through issues of globalization, multiculturalism and borders that ties it all together. The relationship between these two intellects was warm and nuanced. Trudeau “spoke of McLuhan with great reverence” and, for McLuhan, Trudeau was “an image of the age, a phenomenon of media, a rare combination of training, practice, intuition, vision; a figure of undoubted fascination, a charismatic who manifested the Canadian dualities and ambiguities.” Both were experts at media manipulation and recognized that in the other. McLuhan was teaching the world about the global village at the same time as Trudeau was helping Canada find its place and meanings in it. Even a cursory glance at the news today shows how much their work is still relevant and needs to be built upon.

ETD_8101

Ph.D.

Includes bibliographical references

by Elaine B. Kahn

doi:10.7282/T3BK1G98

ETD doctoral

The author owns the copyright to this work.