Twilight of the literary : figures of thought in the age of print / Terry Cochran.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cochran, Terry, 1955-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Printing--Social aspects--History.

Printing.

Books--Social aspects--History.

Books.

Written communication--History.

Written communication.

Intellectual life--History.

Intellectual life.

Globalization.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (299 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, MA : Harvard University Press, 2001.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

In Western thought, the modern period signals a break with stagnant social formations, the advent of a new rationalism, and the emergence of a truly secular order, all in the context of an overarching globalization. In The Twilight of the Literary, Terry Cochran links these developments with the rise of the book as the dominant medium for recording, preserving, and disseminating thought. Consequently, his book explores the role that language plays in elaborating modern self-understanding. It delves into what Cochran calls the "figures of thought" that have been an essential component of modern consciousness in the age of print technology--and questions the relevance of this "print-bound" thinking in a world where print no longer dominates. Cochran begins by examining major efforts of the eighteenth century that proved decisive for modern conceptions of history, knowledge, and print. After tracing late medieval formulations of vernacular language that proved crucial to print, he analyzes the figures of thought in print culture as they proceed from the idea of the collective spirit (the "people"), an elaboration of modern history. Cochran reconsiders basic texts that, in his analysis, reveal the underpinnings of modernity's formation--from Dante and Machiavelli to Antonio Gramsci and Walter Benjamin. Moving from premodern models for collective language to competing theories of history, his work offers unprecedented insight into the means by which modern consciousness has come to know itself.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

I FOUNDING MATTERS

II FROM EUROPE TO THE GLOBE

III UNPLANNED OBSOLESCENCE

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. 259-281) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

9780674271685

0674271688

9780674029613

0674029615

OCLC:

442778392