A History of Language (Globalities) - Softcover

Fischer, Steven Roger

Softcover

ISBN 10: 186189080X ISBN 13: 9781861890801

Verlag: Reaktion Books, 2018

Inhaltsangabe

This second edition of Steven Roger Fischer’s fascinating book charts the history of communication from a time before human language was conceived of to the media explosion of the present day. Fischer begins by describing the modes of communication used by whales, birds, insects, and nonhuman primates, suggesting these are the first contexts in which the concept of “language” might be applied. He then moves from the early abilities of Homo erectus to the spread of languages worldwide, analyzing the effect of the development of writing along the way. With the advent of the science of linguistics in the nineteenth century, the nature of human languages first came to be studied and understood. Fischer follows the evolution of linguists’ insights and the relationship of language to social change into the mid-1900s. Taking into account the rise of pidgin, Creole, jargon, and slang, he goes on to raise provocative questions about literature’s—and literacy’s—relationship to language. Finally, touching on the effects of radio, television, propaganda, and advertising, Fischer looks to the future, asking how electronic media are daily reshaping the world’s languages and suggesting a radical reinterpretation of what language really is.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Steven Roger Fischer is Director of the Institute of Polynesian Languages and Literatures in Auckland, New Zealand. He is the author of Glyph-breaker (1997). A History of Language is part of Fischer’s trilogy for Reaktion, which also includes A History of Writing and A History of Reading.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Reaktion Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2018
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 186189080X
• ISBN 13: 9781861890801
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 272
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar