The Presence Of The Word: Some Prolegomena For Cultural And Religious History
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Markings: Remainder mark
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image. fep clipped.
A landmark work in the history of communication and cultural theory, The Presence of the Word presents a sweeping intellectual argument about the primacy of the spoken word in shaping human consciousness, culture, and religious experience. Drawing on linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, and theology, Walter J. Ong, S.J. argues that the shift from oral to literate cultures — and later to electronic media — fundamentally restructures not only how humans communicate, but how they perceive reality itself. With rigorous academic depth and remarkable interdisciplinary range, Ong illustrates how sound, as a phenomenon that exists only in the present moment of its utterance, carries a unique existential and sacred weight that the visual bias of print culture tends to suppress. The work details the theological implications of this insight, connecting the Christian concept of the Word — the Logos — to the irreducibly oral and interpersonal nature of religious encounter. Scholarly yet profoundly humanistic in tone, this text remains an essential prolegomenon for anyone engaged in cultural history, media studies, or the philosophy of religion.
Author: Walter J. Ong, S.J.
Format: Paperback
Published: 1970, -
Genre: Literary theory
Condition remarks:
Book: Fair
Jacket: No dust jacket
Pages: Good
Markings: Remainder mark
Condition remarks: Condition as shown in image. fep clipped.
A landmark work in the history of communication and cultural theory, The Presence of the Word presents a sweeping intellectual argument about the primacy of the spoken word in shaping human consciousness, culture, and religious experience. Drawing on linguistics, anthropology, philosophy, and theology, Walter J. Ong, S.J. argues that the shift from oral to literate cultures — and later to electronic media — fundamentally restructures not only how humans communicate, but how they perceive reality itself. With rigorous academic depth and remarkable interdisciplinary range, Ong illustrates how sound, as a phenomenon that exists only in the present moment of its utterance, carries a unique existential and sacred weight that the visual bias of print culture tends to suppress. The work details the theological implications of this insight, connecting the Christian concept of the Word — the Logos — to the irreducibly oral and interpersonal nature of religious encounter. Scholarly yet profoundly humanistic in tone, this text remains an essential prolegomenon for anyone engaged in cultural history, media studies, or the philosophy of religion.