The Violence of the Letter : Toward a Theory of Writing

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910741396803321
• Autore: McMahon Melanie
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Ann Arbor : , : University of Michigan Press, , 2023; ©2023
• ISBN: 0-472-90323-3
• Edizione: [First edition.]
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (213 pages)
• Disciplina: 302.2244
• Soggetti: Writing - Social aspects
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Nota di contenuto: Intro -- Contents -- Prelude -- Introduction -- 1. A Brief Technical Detour -- 2. The Trauma of Literacy -- 3. The Alphabet and Reproduction -- 4. Plato and the Forms of Alphabetic Writing -- 5. The Alphabet and Money -- Interlude -- 6. Letters of Blood and Fire -- 7. The Subject Is Always Alphabetized -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index.
• Sommario/riassunto: 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.