Artikelomschrijving

Walter J. Ongs classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, printed and electronic technologies, and their impact on philosophical, theological, scientific and literary thought. This thirtieth anniversary edition - coinciding with Ongs centenary year - reproduces his best-known and most influential book in full and brings it up to date with two new exploratory essays by cultural writer and critic John Hartley. Hartley provides: * A scene-setting chapter that situates Ongs work within the historical and disciplinary context of post-war Americanism and the rise of communication and media studies; * A closing chapter that follows up Ongs work on orality and literacy in relation to evolving media forms, with a discussion of recent criticisms of Ongs approach, and an assessment of his concept of the evolution of consciousness; * Extensive references to recent scholarship on orality, literacy and the study of knowledge technologies, tracing changes in how we know what we know.