A dictionary of Marshall McLuhan’s quotations

Courtney suggests that dramatic play begins with impersonation when a child is nearly a year old. It is an act of externalization of the internalized perceptions, that is, a kind of re-cognition, a re-play. Re-play may be a form of cognition; it is also a form of interpretation, a dramatic performance involving actors and audience.
“Roles, Masks and Performances” (1971), reprinted in McLuhan Unbound (2017), p 15
Year: 1971
↪ Also at #5436, #6085
Compiled by William Kuhns
© 2026, The Estate of Marshall McLuhan