ABC: The Alphabetization of the Popular Mind

In ABC: The Alphabetization of the Popular Mind philosopher and cultural analyst Ivan Illich and medieval scholar and literary critic Barry Sanders have produced an original, meticulous and provocative study of the advent, spread and present decline of literacy. They explore the impact of the alphabet on fundamental thought processes and attitudes, on memory, on political groupings and religious and cultural expectations. They examine the present erosion of literacy in the new technological languages of 'newspeak' and 'uniquack' and they point out how new attitudes to language are altering our world view; our sense of self and of community.