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Marconi's Wireless and the Rhetoric of a New TechnologyMarconi’s Representations of the Wireless

Marconi's Wireless and the Rhetoric of a New Technology: Marconi’s Representations of the Wireless [This chapter analyzes the topoi Marconi used when presenting the wireless to a technical audience. Marconi’s rhetoric promotes the wireless’s viability and necessity for members of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society of Arts, London. Before the wireless became the radio, Marconi prophesized its usefulness, linking it to cultural values. The wireless embodies certain industrial traits—speed, efficiency, profitability, evolution/advancement—and these technical presentations employ such values. At the time of Marconi’s presentations, the wireless was not yet a major commercial product. In order to have a successful product, the wireless had to be portrayed as possible and progressive. The wireless did not replace extant technologies, but it did expand the reach of communication and, therefore, mass communication. As an important mouthpiece for the wireless, Marconi offered his audiences not the physical product but the idea of a potential product to mark human advancement and bolster economic progress.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Marconi's Wireless and the Rhetoric of a New TechnologyMarconi’s Representations of the Wireless

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References (18)

Publisher
Springer Netherlands
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2012
ISBN
978-94-007-3976-5
Pages
57 –85
DOI
10.1007/978-94-007-3977-2_3
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[This chapter analyzes the topoi Marconi used when presenting the wireless to a technical audience. Marconi’s rhetoric promotes the wireless’s viability and necessity for members of the Royal Institution and the Royal Society of Arts, London. Before the wireless became the radio, Marconi prophesized its usefulness, linking it to cultural values. The wireless embodies certain industrial traits—speed, efficiency, profitability, evolution/advancement—and these technical presentations employ such values. At the time of Marconi’s presentations, the wireless was not yet a major commercial product. In order to have a successful product, the wireless had to be portrayed as possible and progressive. The wireless did not replace extant technologies, but it did expand the reach of communication and, therefore, mass communication. As an important mouthpiece for the wireless, Marconi offered his audiences not the physical product but the idea of a potential product to mark human advancement and bolster economic progress.]

Published: Feb 10, 2012

Keywords: Commerce; Early twentieth century history; Empire; Ethos; Marconi; Military; Progress; Rhetoric; Technical communication; Wireless

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