ABC: The Alphabetization of the Popular Mind - Hardcover

Illich, Ivan; Sanders, Barry

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0865472912 ISBN 13: 9780865472914

Publisher: North Point Press, 1988

Synopsis

Traces the historical evolution of written language, public literacy, and libraries; assesses the impact of the alphabet on thought processes and memory as well as society; and analyzes the potential effects of the current erosion of literacy on the future

About this title

From the Publisher:

"What Illich and Sanders have done...is to trace the advent and spread of the written word...and analyze the effects the switch from an oral to a written tradition has had on both the inner life of the individual and the collective life of the society."--JoAnne Gutin, The Voice (Berkeley, California)

From the Inside Flap:

xamination of the effects of technology on literacy and language. The authors argue that there is a phenomenon transforming modern culture--language is becoming part of a technology of "information systems" with an emphasis on control, rather than human exchange. As a result, all language is becoming debased.

About this edition

• Publisher: North Point Press
• Publication date: 1988
• ISBN 10: 0865472912
• ISBN 13: 9780865472914
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 166