The alphabet versus the goddess : the conflict between word and image

Author(s)
    • Shlain, Leonard
Bibliographic Information

The alphabet versus the goddess : the conflict between word and image

Leonard Shlain

(Penguin books, History, Gender)

Penguin books, 2000

Search this Book/Journal
Note

Bibliography: p. [445]-453

Includes index

Description and Table of Contents

Description

Could the invention of writing, and then the alphabet, have been largely responsible for a decisive shift towards patriarchy and misogyny? in this book, the author draws on brain anatomy and anthropology, religion and history, to develop his challenging thesis. Literacy, he argues, encourages "masculine" linear, reductionist and abstract modes of thought which tend to degrade women. (The witch-hunts of the Renaissance coincided with the rapid expansion of printing). Yet the last century has been the rise of visual communications media such as photography, film, television and the Internet. Regardless of their content, such innovations are reconfiguring our brains and producing a climate far more amenable to feminine values. it is only by acknowledging the downside of literacy that we can incorporate its benefits into a culture rooted in "the right-hemispheric values of tolerance, caring and respect for nature.

by "Nielsen BookData"

Related Books: 1-1 of 1
Details
  • NCID
    BA46581561
  • ISBN
    • 0140281835
  • Country Code
    uk
  • Title Language Code
    eng
  • Text Language Code
    eng
  • Place of Publication
    London
  • Pages/Volumes
    xiv, 464 p.
  • Size
    20 cm
  • Parent Bibliography ID
Page Top