The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human WorldWinner of the International Lannan Literary Award for Nonfiction Animal tracks, word magic, the speech of stones, the power of letters, and the taste of the wind all figure prominently in this intellectual tour de force that returns us to our senses and to the sensuous terrain that sustains us. This major work of ecological philosophy startles the senses out of habitual ways of perception. For a thousand generations, human beings viewed themselves as part of the wider community of nature, and they carried on active relationships not only with other people with other animals, plants, and natural objects (including mountains, rivers, winds, and weather patters) that we have only lately come to think of as "inanimate." How, then, did humans come to sever their ancient reciprocity with the natural world? What will it take for us to recover a sustaining relation with the breathing earth? In The Spell of the Sensuous David Abram draws on sources as diverse as the philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Balinese shamanism, Apache storytelling, and his own experience as an accomplished sleight-of-hand of magician to reveal the subtle dependence of human cognition on the natural environment. He explores the character of perception and excavates the sensual foundations of language, which--even at its most abstract--echoes the calls and cries of the earth. On every page of this lyrical work, Abram weaves his arguments with a passion, a precision, and an intellectual daring that recall such writers as Loren Eisleley, Annie Dillard, and Barry Lopez. |
From inside the book
Page 288
... The Gutenberg Galaxy : The Making of Typo- graphic Man ( Toronto : University of Toronto Press , 1962 ) ; Ong , Interfaces of the Word ( London : Cornell University Press , 1977 ) and Orality and Lit- eracy : The Technologizing of the ...
... The Gutenberg Galaxy : The Making of Typo- graphic Man ( Toronto : University of Toronto Press , 1962 ) ; Ong , Interfaces of the Word ( London : Cornell University Press , 1977 ) and Orality and Lit- eracy : The Technologizing of the ...
Page 290
... The Gutenberg Galaxy : The Making of Typographic Man . 3. For an auditory example of such tuning , the reader may wish to lis- ten to a compact disc entitled Voices of the Rainforest ( Rykodisk , 1991 ) , a compilation of field ...
... The Gutenberg Galaxy : The Making of Typographic Man . 3. For an auditory example of such tuning , the reader may wish to lis- ten to a compact disc entitled Voices of the Rainforest ( Rykodisk , 1991 ) , a compilation of field ...
Page 309
... The Gutenberg Galaxy : The Making of Typographic Man . Toronto : University of Toronto Press , 1962 . McLuhan , T. C. Touch the Earth . New York : Outerbridge & Dienstfrey , 1971 . McNeley , James K. Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy ...
... The Gutenberg Galaxy : The Making of Typographic Man . Toronto : University of Toronto Press , 1962 . McLuhan , T. C. Touch the Earth . New York : Outerbridge & Dienstfrey , 1971 . McNeley , James K. Holy Wind in Navajo Philosophy ...
Contents
The Ecology of Magic | 3 |
Philosophy on the way to Ecology 331 | 31 |
The Flesh of Language | 73 |
Copyright | |
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Other editions - View all
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World David Abram Limited preview - 2012 |
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World David Abram Limited preview - 1997 |
Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal abstract aleph-beth alphabet ancestors ancient animate earth animistic awareness Basso birds bodily breath Bruce Chatwin character depths dimension discourse Dreaming Dreamtime ears earthly ecology emergence encounter entities experience experienced eyes feel field forest Gary Snyder gestures Greek ground Hebrew Hebrew Bible Heidegger Hopi language horizon human community Husserl Ibid indigenous influence invisible Jewish Kabbalah Kabbalistic Koyukon Lakota land landscape language letters life-world linguistic literacy living magic Maurice Merleau-Ponty meaning Merleau-Ponty more-than-human nature Navajo nonhuman one's oral culture ourselves participation particular past perceive perception person Phaedrus phenomena philosophical Pintupi plants Plato precisely present Press psyche realm reciprocity relation rhythms sacred scribes Semitic sensible sensing body sensory sensuous world shaman shapes shift Socrates song songline sounds space spatial speak specific speech spoken stories structure surrounding synaesthetic terrain things tion traditional trees University visible voice vowels Western Apache Wind words writing system written