The logic of writing and the organization of society

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Book

Title:	The logic of writing and the organization of society
Author:	Goody, Jack
Year:	1986
Pages:	213
Language:	English
Series:	Studies in literacy, family, culture and the state
City of publisher:	Cambridge
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
ISBN:	0521327458; 0521339626
Geographic term:	Africa
Subjects:	writing systems communication social structure
Abstract:	This book assesses the impact of writing on human societies, both in the Ancient Near East and in contemporary Africa, and highlights some general features of social systems that have been influenced by this major change in the mode of communication. Such features are central to any attempt at the theoretical definition of human society and such constituent phenomena as religious and legal systems, and in this study the author explores the role of a specific mechanism, the introduction of writing and the development of a written tradition, in the explanation of some important social differences and similarities. He argues that a shift of emphasis from productive to certain communicative processes is essential to account adequately for major changes in human societies.