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Speaking into the Air: A History of the Idea of Communication
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Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 900
EAN: 9780226662770
ISBN: 0226662772
Label: University Of Chicago Press
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: December 01, 2001
Publisher: University Of Chicago Press
Studio: University Of Chicago Press
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Editorial Review:
Communication plays a vital and unique role in society-often blamed for problems when it breaks down and at the same time heralded as a panacea for human relations. A sweeping history of communication, Speaking Into the Air illuminates our expectations of communication as both historically specific and a fundamental knot in Western thought."This is a most interesting and thought-provoking book. . . . Peters maintains that communication is ultimately unthinkable apart from the task of establishing a kingdom in which people can live together peacefully. Given our condition as mortals, communication remains not primarily a problem of technology, but of power, ethics and art." —Antony Anderson, New Scientist"Guaranteed to alter your thinking about communication. . . . Original, erudite, and beautifully written, this book is a gem." —Kirkus Reviews"Peters writes to reclaim the notion of authenticity in a media-saturated world. It's this ultimate concern that renders his book a brave, colorful exploration of the hydra-headed problems presented by a rapid-fire popular culture." —Publishers Weekly What we have here is a failure-to-communicate book. Funny thing is, it communicates beautifully. . . . Speaking Into the Air delivers what superb serious books always do-hours of intellectual challenge as one absorbs the gradually unfolding vision of an erudite, creative author." —Carlin Romano, Philadelphia Inquirer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating: - Refreshing and thought-provoking
Peters brilliantly examines the problem of communication and explores many of the major themes in the history of communication theory. This is a beautifully written and insightful work, more philosophy than history, that will have you thinking about what really is essential about human expression. Peters adroitly critiques the romantic new age veneration of dialogue and traces its origins from Socrates to the present day. "In certain quarters," he observes, "dialogue has attained ... Read More
Rating: - The first history of ideas of communication
Communication is often received as a universal category by which the nature of human species is expressed. For Habermas, in particular, communicative competence (i.e., language) distinguishes human beings from other animals; he defines communication as a more substantial feature in human association than labor that takes the most privileged position in historical materialism. Then, is it possible to analyze the whole array of social, historical and political relationships among human beings in terms ... Read More
Rating: - Heavy reading with big payoff
I almost gave up on Speaking into the Air. It's a densely packed volume requiring total concentration for absorption. I often read passages two or three times before I comprehended them. Six weeks elapsed from start to finish, and I feel I now need to go back and read some of it again. It was worth the effort.
Peters has organized the literature about communication into categories. Among them, he discusses spiritualism, talking with the dead, and communicating with machines, animals and aliens. ... Read More
Rating: - A Veritable Feast
Peters' work is a smorgasbord of scholarship and insight. It is intellectually challenging and artistically satisfying. Filling but not fattening. Why are all these food images popping into this review? Perhaps because so much of the rhetoric associated with communication and putative claims about communication are genuinely void of nourishment.
I have just experienced two interviews involving "speaking into the air." In the first instance a person at the other end of the phone read ... Read More
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