|
Showing 1 - 2 of
2 matches in All Departments
Offering fresh insight into the early life of Harold Adams Innis
(1894-1952), this volume makes available a number of previously
unpublished writings from the renowned Canadian economic historian
and media scholar. Part I, Innis's autobiographical memoir,
chronicles his farm-based family background, early education,
military service during World War I, and the beginnings of what
would become a distinguished academic career. Part II features a
selection of correspondence during his military service, revealing
both the pain and perceptions derived from that experience, and
other war-related writings. It also includes "The Returned
Soldier," a detailed piece of research and a compassionate plea to
recognize how the aftermath of the Great War would affect those who
served as well as the individuals and institutions on the home
front. Years before the term "post-traumatic stress disorder" was
coined, Innis was acutely aware of the condition and suggested ways
in which it might be treated. Other war-related items included are
Innis's first published article (dealing with the economics of the
solider) and a draft speech composed in the fall of 1918. All
original materials have been extensively annotated to provide
context for the contemporary reader and researcher.
For decades, media historians have heard of Harold Innis's
unpublished manuscript exploring the history of communications-but
very few have had an opportunity to see it. In this volume, editors
and Innis scholars William J. Buxton, Michael R. Cheney, and Paul
Heyer make widely accessible, for the first time, three core
chapters from the legendary Innis manuscript. Here, Innis
(1894-1952) examines the development of paper and printing from
antiquity in Asia through to 16th century Europe. He demonstrates
how the paper/printing nexus intersected with a broad range of
other phenomena, including administrative structures, geopolitics,
militarism, public opinion, aesthetics, cultural diffusion,
religion, education, reception, production processes, technology,
labor relations, and commerce, as well as the lives of visionary
figures. Buxton, Cheney, and Heyer knit the chapters into a
cohesive narrative and help readers navigate Innis's observations
by summarizing the heavily detailed factual material that peppered
the unpublished manuscript. They provide further context for
Innis's arguments by adding annotations, references, and pertinent
citations to his other writings. The end result is both a testament
to Innis's status as a canonical figure in the study of
communication and a surprisingly relevant contribution to how we
might think about the current sea change in all aspects of social,
cultural, political, and economic life stemming from the global
shift to digital communication.
|
|