{"product_id":"the-ancient-phonograph-shane-butler-9781935408727","title":"The Ancient Phonograph","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA groundbreaking exploration of voice in literature, oratory, and song\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eLong before the invention of the phonograph, the written word was unrivaled as a medium of the human voice. In \u003ci\u003eThe Ancient Phonograph\u003c\/i\u003e, Shane Butler takes us back to an age, long before Edison, when writing itself was still relatively new. He meticulously reconstructs a series of Greek and Roman soundscapes ranging from Aristotle to Augustine. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHere the real voices of tragic actors, ambitious orators, and singing emperors blend with the imagined voices of lovesick nymphs, tormented heroes, and angry gods. The resonant world we encounter in ancient sources is at first unfamiliar, populated by texts that speak and sing, often with no clear difference between the two. But Butler discovers a commonality that invites a deeper understanding of why voices mattered then, and why they have mattered since. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith later examples that range from Petrarch to Puccini, Mozart to Jimi Hendrix, Butler offers an ambitious attempt to rethink the voice -- as an anatomical presence, a conceptual category, and a source of pleasure and wonder. He carefully and critically assesses the strengths and limits of recent theoretical approaches to the voice by Adriana Cavarero and Mladen Dolar and makes a rich and provocative range of ancient material available for the first time to students and scholars in voice studies, sound studies, and media theory. \u003ci\u003eThe Ancient Phonograph\u003c\/i\u003e will appeal not only to classicists but to anyone interested in the verbal arts -- literature, oratory, song -- and the nature of aesthetic experience.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Shane Butler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1935408720\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781935408727\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Zone Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/10\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.15lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.10h x 6.00w x 1.00d","brand":"Shane Butler","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":49000531034367,"sku":"9781935408727","price":37.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-ancient-phonograph-shane-butler-9781935408727","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}