Overview

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 today’s fast-paced, media-saturated environment. Scholars of media studies, communication, and sociology will find this book particularly useful.

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9781793605290

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Reviews

While appreciating the convenience and functionality of advanced technologies, Eicher-Catt brings our attention back to the immediacy of the actual speaking voice-an originary source of human discourse. It is this source from which we truly experience the sublime, true beauty, passion, music, love-everything that makes us human. A vocal advocate for the crucial role of vocality in our life, Eicher-Catt's book is original and powerful, her style persuasive and lucid. This book will resonate with all students and scholars of communication, leaving them transformed-re-enchanted. -- Igor Klyukanov, Eastern Washington University Deborah Eicher-Catt profoundly transforms the discourse of human communication, meaning, and technology in her book about voice and human experience. Her writing throughout is at once inviting and incandescent. What is more, this study could not be more timely or more original. As we take note of the fragility of intimate relationships in this era, the discussion of communication technology has tended to be hasty and careless. Eicher-Catt's book is the first of its kind to systematically address the embodied presence of self and other-it is brilliant and absolutely vital. -- Frank J. Macke, Mercer University In this book overflowing with deep learning, profound understanding, and brilliant insights, Deborah Eicher-Catt provides a philosophical study and critique of one of the most troubling aspects of contemporary life in our electronic media environment: the loss of voice and the proliferation of noise and visual distractions that are a consequence of our unhealthy infatuation with our digital devices and mobile technologies. -- Lance Strate, Fordham University

While appreciating the convenience and functionality of advanced technologies, Eicher-Catt brings our attention back to the immediacy of the actual speaking voice—an originary source of human discourse. It is this source from which we truly experience the sublime, true beauty, passion, music, love—everything that makes us human. A vocal advocate for the crucial role of vocality in our life, Eicher-Catt’s book is original and powerful, her style persuasive and lucid. This book will resonate with all students and scholars of communication, leaving them transformed—re-enchanted. -- Igor Klyukanov, Eastern Washington University Deborah Eicher-Catt profoundly transforms the discourse of human communication, meaning, and technology in her book about voice and human experience. Her writing throughout is at once inviting and incandescent. What is more, this study could not be more timely or more original. As we take note of the fragility of intimate relationships in this era, the discussion of communication technology has tended to be hasty and careless. Eicher-Catt’s book is the first of its kind to systematically address the embodied presence of self and other—it is brilliant and absolutely vital. -- Frank J. Macke, Mercer University In this book overflowing with deep learning, profound understanding, and brilliant insights, Deborah Eicher-Catt provides a philosophical study and critique of one of the most troubling aspects of contemporary life in our electronic media environment: the loss of voice and the proliferation of noise and visual distractions that are a consequence of our unhealthy infatuation with our digital devices and mobile technologies. -- Lance Strate, Fordham University

Author Information

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

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