Rethinking Writing

The traditional Western view of writing from Aristotle to the present day hastreated the written word as a visual substitute for the spoken word. Theeminent Swi... » 

The traditional Western view of writing from Aristotle to the present day hastreated the written word as a visual substitute for the spoken word. Theeminent Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure 18571913 was the first toprovide this traditional assumption with a reasoned basis by incorporating itinto a more general theory of signs.In the wake of Saussures work modern linguistics has ignored or marginalizedwriting in favor of the study of speech.Roy Harris shows that the theory of writing adopted in modern linguistics isdeeply flawed. Reversing the orthodox priorities he argues that writing is afar more powerful mode of linguistic communication than speech ever could be.Rethinking Writing is a major contribution to current debates about humancommunication written and spoken. «