McLuhan, muhk LOO ihn, Marshall (1911-1980), was a Canadian professor and writer whose theories on mass communication have caused widespread debate. According to McLuhan, electronic communication--especially television--dominates the life of all Western peoples. It affects their ways of thinking as well as their institutions. McLuhan analyzed the effects of communications media on people and society in The Mechanical Bride (1951), The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962), Understanding Media (1964), The Medium Is the Massage (1967), and War and Peace in the Global Village (1968).