This is not a dry academic treatise, but a book that can be read
with pleasure and delight. It is an investigation of the
tantalizing idea that there once existed a language which perfectly
and unambiguously expressed the essence of all possible things.
Cultural historian Umberto Eco explores the writings of Augustine,
Dante, Descartes and Rousseau together with early treatises on
cabbalism and magic in his investigation into this corner of
linguistic history. He shows how language helps to forge national
identity but also how it can be perverted to promote notions of
racial or cultural superiority. (Kirkus UK)
The idea that there once existed a language which perfectly and
unambiguously expressed the essence of all possible things and
concepts has occupied the minds of philosophers, theologians,
mystics and others for at least two millennia. This is an
investigation into the history of that idea and of its profound
influence on European thought, culture and history.
From the early Dark Ages to the Renaissance it was widely
believed that the language spoken in the Garden of Eden was just
such a language, and that all current languages were its decadent
descendants from the catastrophe of the Fall and at Babel. The
recovery of that language would, for theologians, express the
nature of divinity, for cabbalists allow access to hidden knowledge
and power, and for philosophers reveal the nature of truth.
Versions of these ideas remained current in the Enlightenment, and
have recently received fresh impetus in attempts to create a
natural language for artificial intelligence.
The story that Umberto Eco tells ranges widely from the writings
of Augustine, Dante, Descartes and Rousseau, arcane treatises on
cabbalism and magic, to the history of the study of language and
its origins. He demonstrates the initimate relation between
language and identity and describes, for example, how and why the
Irish, English, Germans and Swedes - one of whom presented God
talking in Swedish to Adam, who replied in Danish, while the
serpent tempted Eve in French - have variously claimed their
language as closest to the original. He also shows how the late
eighteenth-century discovery of a proto-language (Indo-European)
for the Aryan peoples was perverted to support notions of racial
superiority.
To this subtle exposition of a history of extraordinary
complexity, Umberto Eco links the associated history of the manner
in which the sounds of language and concepts have been written and
symbolized. Lucidly and wittily written, the book is, in sum, a"
tour de force" of scholarly detection and cultural interpretation,
providing a series of original perspectives on two thousand years
of European History.
The paperback edition of this book is not available through
Blackwell outside of North America.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
