A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

There is a sense in which a magazine is a vortex of energy, a mask which the reader puts on in order to perceive a field of action that would otherwise be outside his ken. If a reader must put on a magazine as a mask or a pattern of energy in order to organize his perceptions, the contributors must also put on the public created by the magazine, creating a reciprocal and complementary action.
“Roles, masks and Performances” (1971), reprinted in McLuhan Unbound (2017), p 3
Year: 1971
Chapter: Reading
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan