Screen and Society

Frank J. Coppa Department of History St. John’s University

From the dawn of civilization to the onset of the Industrial Revolution mankind had been hopelessly divided, kept apart by geography, race, language, culture, diverse historical development, and above all, by lack of continuous contact. Folk traditions varied from village to village so that parochialism reigned supreme. A culture shared by all was a dream not easily realized even in the nineteenth century when the allure of nationalism became increasingly powerful. The prospect of creating a universal culture or even more modestly of promoting international understanding was deemed utopian, rendered impossible by deep-seated prevailing differences. Unquestionably, common patterns of living have long existed in all societies past and present, but a broad popular culture could not develop until communication had evolved to provide a mechanism for the rapid, broad, and relatively inexpensive dissemination of information. This was to be the task of the Industrial Revolution at the end of the eighteenth century.

The history of man is tied to the development of communication. To communicate in a more complete and effective manner than animals is the first prerequisite of civilization. From the cave paintings of the old stone age to the marvels of the electronic media, as man fashioned new tools, he changed his own image.1 For more than a million years speech and gesture were the only means of communication among humans. Much later, some six thousand years ago, writing was developed. Only five hundred years ago did printing appear in Europe.2 Not until the nineteenth century, however, was there an inexpensive mechanism for the circulation of the printed word that could permeate literate societies of the western world. This was achieved by the daily newspaper, which achieved large-scale circulation after the technological innovations of the 1830s.

The electronic revolution of the twentieth century produced the wireless or radio, which transcended the need for literacy and expanded the scope of mass culture. Following the Second World War, radio, which addressed itself to the ears of the world, was to be outpaced by television, which appealed to both ears and eyes. In less than three decades television evolved from a novelty into an instrument of popular diversion, big business, cultural exchange, and more. Its sight and sound have made it the first medium shared and understood by all of humanity, including its lower depth, from Tokyo to the Thames.