Koerner Public Lecture David Finkelstein (Professor of Media & Print Culture, Queen Margaret University College, Edinburgh) I Played Frisbee with Jesus: Media, Print and the Cult of Personality 7 pm, October 31, 2005 SFU at Harbour Centre (515 West Hastings Street) Room 1900 “The Medium is the Message”, Marshall McCluhan declared forty years ago in reference to the technological revolution he saw shaping human discourse. In the nineteenth century, this medium was often a textual one. How did this work in practice, and how does it continue to function today in face of the multitude of information sources and media outlets at our disposal (newspapers, magazines, tv, film, radio, the internet)? This lecture will look at Media, Print, Culture and its Commodification, exploring the ways in which creators, producers and audiences have been conjoined over the past 150 years in the production of literary culture and social meaning through printed text and other media. It will draw on multimedia techniques to analyse examples ranging from the writing of 19th century African exploration narratives to modern day media and film texts, political propaganda, sports activities and academic discourse. It will conclude by drawing attention to the ways in which concepts of ‘authorship’ and the ‘cult of personality’ have been filtered and used over the past 150 years to frame concepts of other peoples and places, to embed concepts of human selection and iconic commodification, and to sanctify commercial and colonising imperatives.

Munro Public Lecture | Koerner Public Lecture | Conference Registration Form | Conference Program
Delta Vancouver Suites | Hotel Registration Form | Tourism Vancouver | Department of English, SFU