The Violence of the Letter

Toward a Theory of Writing
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-0-472-05591-3
Verlag: University of Michigan Press

Buch, Englisch, 216 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

The emergence of the alphabet in ancient Greece, usually heralded as the first step in the inexorable march toward reason and progress, in fact signaled the introduction of a chance technology that hijacked the future, with devastating consequences for humanity. By investigating an array of cultural artifacts, ranging from Kubrick's “2001: A Space Odyssey” to the Oracle at Delphi to Luther's challenge to the Church, this book demonstrates how the apparently benign emergence of writing made possible far-ranging systems of organized domination and unprecedented levels of violence. The Violence of the Letter considers how a twenty-six letter code changed the face of the world, and not always for the better.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Sprachwissenschaft Fremdsprachenerwerb und -didaktik
• Geisteswissenschaften Literaturwissenschaft Literaturwissenschaft
• Geisteswissenschaften Philosophie Philosophie: Allgemeines, Methoden

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Prelude
Introduction
Chapter 1. A Brief Technical Detour
Chapter 2. The Trauma of Literacy
Chapter 3. The Alphabet and Reproduction
Chapter 4. Plato and the Forms of Alphabetic Writing
Chapter 5. The Alphabet and Money
Interlude
Chapter 6. Letters of Fire and Blood
Chapter 7. The Subject Is Always Alphabetized
Bibliography
Index