Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology

Communication Uncovered: General Semantics and Media Ecology

by Corey Anton

In this highly readable and well-arranged compilation -- including his much celebrated “The Practice of Reading Good Books” and award-winning “Playing with Bateson” -- Corey Anton brings together some of his most accessible and well-received essays. The collection, in addition to advancing and integrating the fields of media ecology and general semantics, will be of great interest to people who are concerned over the changing role of reading and literacy in contemporary life. A stimulating and provocative book having wide relevance to scholars and students in the areas of semiotics, rhetorical theory, orality/literacy studies, philosophy of communication, pedagogical theory, and communication theory, Communication Uncovered offers countless insights and broad-based orientations regarding the nature of language, linguistic and communicative habits, communication technologies, and symbolic practices more generally. This is a “must have” resource for anyone interested in multidisciplinary communication theory. Corey Anton will be donating all proceeds and royalties from this book to the Institute of General Semantics.

Superb scholarship. The range and depth of the author’s comprehension is stunning. Professor Anton has made a groundbreaking contribution to the field. Scholars, take note!

--Lee Thayer Distinguished Professor (ret.) and Author of Explaining Things

Anton’s thoughts on reading and education, especially poignant in this time of rapidly declining literacy, are nicely complemented by the suggestions and observations on ecology of media. His characteristic wit and wisdom enliven every essay herein.

--Eric McLuhan

Corey Anton brings a brilliantly original voice to the discipline of general semantics, the field of media ecology, and the theories associated with cybernetics and the systems view. Scholarly, passionate, and inspired, this collection of essays should be required reading for anyone interested in human communication, signification, symbolization, and mediation.

--Lance Strate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, Fordham University Author of On the Binding Biases of Time and Other Essays on General Semantics and Media Ecology Past president of the Media Ecology Association Former Executive Director of the Institute of General Semantics

This book is for the growing number of professors who are concerned about reading and traditional literacy skills in education. Aspects of communication are revealed in Anton’s provocative essays which guide us to a better humanistic understanding of communication.

--Susan B. Barnes Professor, College of Liberal Arts, RIT

Table of Contents

PART I: Pedagogical Orientations Chapter 1: The Practice of Reading Good Books: A Plea to Teachers and Students Chapter 2: Learning about Education Metaphors: Study as a Way of Life PART II: Explorations in General Semantics Chapter 3: Playing With Bateson: Denotation, Logical Types, and Analog and Digital Communication Chapter 4: A Levels Orientation to Abstraction, Logical Typing, and Language More Generally Chapter 5: Korzybski and Bateson: Paradoxes in ‘Consciousness of Abstracting’ Chapter 6: Is There a Territory Without Maps? Chapter 7: The Thing Is Not Itself: Artefactual Metonymy and the World of Antiques PART III: Media Ecological Studies Chapter 8: History, Orientations, and Future Directions of Media Ecology Chapter 9: Early Western Writing, Sensory Modalities, and Modern Alphabetic Literacy: On the Origins of Representational Theorizing Chapter 10: Clocks, Synchronization, and the Fate of Leisure: A Brief Media Ecological History of Digital Technologies PART IV: Resources and Meditations Chapter 11: Words to Live By: Scholarly Quotations as Proverbial Theories Chapter 12: Aphorisms, Insights, and Other Comic Resources for Modern Intellectuals Shipped from a third-party vendor. Available in hardcover and softcover, as well as in Kindle format from Amazon and Nook format from Barnes & Noble. 2011. 198 pages. ISBN 0982755953. 9.2 x 6.1 x 0.4 inches