- Paperback: 464 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Books (Sep 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0140196013
- ISBN-13: 978-0140196016
- Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 14.1 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (67 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
83,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #60 in Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Gender Studies > Women > Feminist Criticism
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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
"Literacy has promoted the subjugation of women by men throughout all but the very recent history of the West," writes Leonard Shlain. "Misogyny and patriarchy rise and fall with the fortunes of the alphabetic written word."
That's a pretty audacious claim, one that The Alphabet Versus the Goddess provides extensive historical and cultural correlations to support. Shlain's thesis takes readers from the evolutionary steps that distinguish the human brain from that of the primates to the development of the Internet. The very act of learning written language, he argues, exercises the human brain's left hemisphere--the half that handles linear, abstract thought--and enforces its dominance over the right hemisphere, which thinks holistically and visually. If you accept the idea that linear abstraction is a masculine trait, and that holistic visualisation is feminine, the rest of the theory falls into place. The flip side is that as visual orientation returns to prominence within society through film, television, and cyberspace, the status of women increases, soon to return to the equilibrium of the earliest human cultures. Shlain wisely presents this view of history as plausible rather than definite, but whether you agree with his wide-ranging speculations or not, he provides readers eager to "understand it all" with much to consider. --Ron Hogan, Amazon.com --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Product Description
Could the invention of writing, and then the alphabet, have been largely responsible for a decisive shift towards patriarchy and misogyny? in this book, the author draws on brain anatomy and anthropology, religion and history, to develop his challenging thesis. Literacy, he argues, encourages "masculine" linear, reductionist and abstract modes of thought which tend to degrade women. (The witch-hunts of the Renaissance coincided with the rapid expansion of printing). Yet the last century has been the rise of visual communications media such as photography, film, television and the Internet. Regardless of their content, such innovations are reconfiguring our brains and producing a climate far more amenable to feminine values. it is only by acknowledging the downside of literacy that we can incorporate its benefits into a culture rooted in "the right-hemispheric values of tolerance, caring and respect for nature.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Shlain seems to think that if he keeps throwing information at his readers, they will be impressed (or overwhelmed) by the wide-ranging research he must have done, and be convinced of his thesis. But all he's actually done is read some books by other people and present their sometimes controversial ideas as facts; this is the essence of sloppy scholarship.
A notable example is showcased on page 382, where there is a photo supposedly of "Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce." But it's not Hanmaton Yalatkik ("Chief Joseph"); it's a member of one of the Plains Indian nations, as can be seen clearly from his eagle feather headdress (the Nez Perce were not Plains Indians). If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is the worth of a picture with a wildly innaccurate caption?
Toward the end of the book he discusses EEGs, which measure brain waves. The dominant brain wave when reading a printed page, he tells us, is the beta wave, while the dominant wave when a person watches TV is the alpha wave. But there's another activity where the dominant one is the alpha wave: meditation. Here he's clever, because he never equates watching TV with meditating; but the entire structure of the book is meant to bring the reader to that very conclusion. Why doesn't Shlain tell us which brain wave is dominant when we eat, or dream, or have sex? Studies of these activities have been conducted since the EEG was invented, but too many relevant facts threaten his thesis, so a fuller context must be ignored. This isn't just sloppy scholarship--this is manipulation.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Anyone who has studied even a smidgen of cultural anthropology would realize that Shlain's argument carries no weight. Where are all the pre-literate societies which practice goddess worship and treat women fairly? The fact is that the inequitable treatment of women is just as much if not even more prevalent in pre-literate societies as it is in literate ones.
Shlain is exploiting the naive and undeserved attention which so many people offer for no other reason than that the author has before his name those magic letters "Dr". He should reserve that title for his working life. If his ideas had been forced to stand up under their own strength then the precious resources of paper and ink which were wasted on this book might have been saved for a better purpose.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'The Alphabet Versus the Goddess' is certainly the most intriguing book I've read in a while and Leonard Shlain puts his theory across most convincingly. He takes us from evolution through to the internet- along the way detailing example after example of ways in which women's rights were obliterated shortly after the introduction of literacy to the culture.
Bringing together many disparate subjects- physiology, religion, witch hunting, dyslexia, the devil, women's rights- disecting them and throwing out an amazing hypothesis, Leonard Shlain reminds me, in a way, of Tom Robbins...though with the humour taken out (if you can imagine that)...very often throughout the book I felt that same frisson I feel when reading Tom Robbins' books- "this is crazy and exciting and, damn, it makes so much sense!"
*Everyday* I'd go into work and end up with a small crowd of women around me as I regurgitated what I had read the night before, all of them sat in stunned amazement...
I highly HIGHLY recommend this book to both men and women as we all have a lot to learn from it. Amazing.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Alphabet and Religion
The late Leonard Shlain produced this brilliant book. It is well researched. He relates his surgical knowledge of neuro-anatomy to the patterns of thinking that differs between the... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Old Bookworm
Fasciniting scope but perhaps a flawed argument
Shlain Review
According to Shlain history has operated within two different paradigms - a left brain and a right brain, optical cones and rods, one of image and one of the word. Read more
Published on 4 July 2001
A rivetting journey
This book is a gem to be savored like a high quality ice cream. One doesn't have to concur with its conclusions to enjoy the historic quilt that the author masterfully sews. Read more
Published on 7 Dec 2000 by Paper Tiger
Intriguing but unconvincing
Shlain has an interesting thesis, his scholarship is impressive, and the book is fun and provoking to read. But his argument ultimately fails (I feel) because the right brain vs. Read more
Published on 4 Aug 1999
A provocative look at the shadow side of literary.
This book shattered my previous understanding that Goddess worshipping societies were invaded by "foreigners" and that they thus disappeared due to the physical... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 1999
cannot think of another book with more impact on my thinking
This book is facinating on so many levels. It is an exciting romp through history from an intriguing and new perspective. Read more
Published on 23 July 1999
Our Language Shapes Us
Dr. Shlain, a surgeon by profession, dissects the neurological process whereby the way we process language shapes us. This is a right-brain insight. Read more
Published on 10 July 1999
Intriguing Thesis Gone Wrong
Dr. Shlain has an intriguing thesis. However, his attempts at supporting it go from somewhat plausible to rather ridiculous. Read more
Published on 29 Jun 1999
A treasure for understanding eons of human development!
I am recommending Leonard Shlain's book, The Alphabet Versus the Goddess, to everyone I meet. This book is a real treasure!. Read more
Published on 26 Jun 1999
provocative critique of human culture
We are lucky if we encounter once in our lives SOMETHING that forces us to reconsider who we think we are, the basic assumptions we make, individually and collectively, about the... Read more
Published on 23 Jun 1999
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