عنوان

The history and power of writing /

(Number (ISBN

0226508358

(Number (ISBN

0226508366

(Number (ISBN

9780226508351

(Number (ISBN

9780226508368

Number

b533534

Title Proper

The history and power of writing /

General Material Designation

[Book]

First Statement of Responsibility

Henri-Jean Martin ; translated by Lydia G. Cochrane

Place of Publication, Distribution, etc.

Chicago :

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Chicago Press,

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

1994

Specific Material Designation and Extent of Item

xv, 591 pages :

Other Physical Details

illustrations ;

Dimensions

24 cm

Text of Note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 513-560) and index

Text of Note

Writing systems -- The written and the spoken word -- Speech and letters -- The death and resurrection of written culture -- The arrival of print -- The reign of the book -- The forms and functions of writing : fifteenth-eighteenth centuries -- The book and society -- The industrial era -- Beyond writing -- Conclusion

0

Text of Note

Continuing on to the electronic revolution, Martin's account takes in the changes wrought on writing by computers and electronic systems of storage and communication, and offers surprising insights into the influence these new technologies have had on children born into the computer age. The power of writing to influence and dominate is, indeed, a central theme in this history, as Martin explores the processes by which the written word has gradually imposed its logic on society over four thousand years. The summation of decades of study by one of the world's great scholars on the subject, this fascinating account of writing explains much about the world we inhabit, where we uneasily confer, accept, and resist the power of the written word

Text of Note

Cultural history on a grand scale, this immensely readable book is the story of writing from its very beginnings to its recent transformations through technology. Traversing four millennia, Martin shows how the written word originated, how it spread, and how it figured in the evolution of civilization. In pursuit of writing's origins, Henri-Jean Martin asks how much those origins owed to practical necessity, and how much to religious and social systems of symbols. He describes the precursors to writing and reveals its place in early civilizations as a mnemonic device in service of the spoken word. The tenacity of the oral tradition plays an important part in this history. All written texts were normally read aloud well into the thirteenth century, Martin notes, and even as late as the eighteenth century the concept of "taking notes" was largely unknown to educated individuals trained in classical rhetoric and arts of memory

Text of Note

The story of writing is also a history of technology, and Martin charts the progress of the written word from Sumerian clay tablets to papyrus to paper and the advent of the printing press. His discussion of technology and materials details the development of standardized writing as well, placing such innovations as spacing and capital letters in relation to the increased use and demystification of writing. Paying particular attention to the technological advances that took place in Germany, Martin chronicles the growing importance of printing right down to its explicit role in the spread and success of the Protestant Reformation. He shows how these technological and cultural movements gathered impetus with the Industrial Revolution, when literacy became preeminent

General Material Designation

Histoire et pouvoirs de l'crit.

Language (when part of a heading)

English

Books and reading-- History

Printing-- History

Writing-- History

Written communication-- History

Number

Edition

Class number

Book number

Martin, Henri-Jean,1924-2007

Cochrane, Lydia G.

Date of Transaction

20190819020426.0

Electronic name

[Book]

Y