The Violence of the Letter

Toward a Theory of Writing
Erscheinungsjahr 2023
ISBN: 978-0-472-07591-1
Verlag: University of Michigan Press

Buch, Englisch, 216 Seiten, Hardback, 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