Avatars of the word : from papyrus to cyberspace / James J. O'Donnell.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

O'Donnell, James J., 1950-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communication and technology--History.

Communication and technology.

Written communication--History.

Written communication.

History.

Cyberspace.

Physical Description:

xii, 210 pages ; 21 cm

Edition:

First Harvard University Press paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2000.

Summary:

The written word has been the central bearer of culture since antiquity. But its position is now being challenged by the powerful media of electronic communication. In this penetrating and witty book, James O'Donnell takes a reading on the promise and the threat of electronic technology for our literate future.

Contents:

Introduction: The Scholar in His Study 1

1 Phaedrus: Hearing Socrates, Reading Plato 14

2 From the Alexandrian Library to the Virtual Library and Beyond 29

Hyperlink: The Instability of the Text 44

3 From the Codex Page to the Homepage 50

Hyperlink: The Shrine of Nonlinear Reading 64

4 The Persistence of the Old and the Pragmatics of the New 71

Hyperlink: Who Owns That Idea? 92

5 The Ancients and the Moderns: The Classics and Western Civilizations 99

6 Augustine Today: Linear Narratives and Multiple Pathways 124

7 The New Liberal Arts: Teaching in the Postmodern World 144

Hyperlink: How Does Teaching Work? 163

8 What Becomes of Universities? (For Professors Only) 167

9 Cassiodorus: Or, the Life of the Mind in Cyberspace 190.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [198]-207) and index.

ISBN:

067400194X

OCLC:

44911925