MARSHALL MCLUHAN’S MOSAIC by ELENA LAMBERTI AT THE ITALIAN CULTURAL INSTITUTE OF TORONTO

The Italian Cultural Institute and the University of Toronto Press invite you to a celebration of Marshall McLuhan’s Mosaic. Probing the Literary Origins of Media Studies by Elena Lamberti featuring the author in conversation with Phillip Marchand and Nino Ricci.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 - 6:30pm – 8:30pm
Istituto Italiano di Cultura 496 Huron St. Toronto
Free admission
Infoline: 416-921-3802 ext. 221
RSVP intern1.iictoronto@esteri.it

‘Marshall McLuhan’s Mosaic is the truly refreshing and fresh engagement with McLuhan’s writing that the digital age has been waiting for.’ Linda Hutcheon, University of Toronto.

One hundred years after Marshall McLuhan’s birth, Elena Lamberti explores a fundamental, yet neglected aspect of his work: the solid humanistic roots of his original ‘mosaic’ form of writing. In this investigation of how his famous communication theories were influenced by literature and the arts, Lamberti proposes a new approach to McLuhan’s thought. Reconnecting McLuhan with his literary past, Marshall McLuhan’s Mosaic is a demonstration of one of his greatest ideas: that literature not only matters, but can help us understand the hidden patterns that rule our environment.

The award winning author Nino Ricci and the celebrated literary critic and writer Philip Marchand will talk with the author about literature as an old/new medium, probing McLuhan’s idea that “Literature is not a subject but a function – a function inseparable from our communal existence”.

Nino Ricci is the author of such internationally renowned novels as Lives of The Saints. His most recent book, The Origin of Species, earned him his second Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Mr. Ricci was recently appointed to the Order of Canada for his contributions to literature.

Philip Marchand currently writes a weekly books column for the National Post. Among the books he has published are his biography of McLuhan, entitled Marshall McLuhan: the Medium and the Messenger and Ripostes: Reflections on Canadian Literature.
Elena Lamberti is a research professor in the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature at the University of Bologna, Italy, where she teaches American and Canadian Literature and Culture. She is the author of several award-winning volumes, most notably Marshall McLuhan: Tra letteratura, arti e media.
Books will be available for purchase.

Media Contact: Chris Reed, Publicist, University of Toronto Press creed@utpress.utoronto.ca (416) 978-2239 ext 248