Recovering the Voice in Our Techno-Social World: On the Phone

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Description

Using a communicological perspective, Recovering the Voice in our Techno-Social World: On the Phone identifies voice (phone in Greek) as the essential medium for a re-enchantment of human communication in our highly impersonal techno-social environment. This book is a response to the growing concern by social critics that we are becoming a de-voiced society because of our preferences for hyper-textual, image-based forms of electronic connectivity. Ironically, while we are increasingly on the phone, we are sacrificing our vocality within immediate ear-to-ear relations. Framed by the trope of enchantment, Deborah Eicher-Catt argues that the immediacy of the sounding voice calls us and enchants us to make possible productive moments of resonance in which we might cultivate an interpersonal resilience in todays fast-paced, media-saturated environment. Scholars of media studies, communication, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.

Reviews

Eicher-Catt's book is an excellent contribution to studies in communication, communicology, semiotic phenomenology, media ecology, sociology, and a brilliant academic resource for students and scholars. Readers will not only be immersed in a deep intellectual journey, but also an enchanting one.

Author Bio

Deborah Eicher-Catt is professor of communication arts and sciences at Pennsylvania State University, York.