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But let us insert us onto the scene and look ourselves against the backdrop of the scene. Why do we want to understand ourselves in terms of communication, and from when? If the questions are like these, John Peters' Speaking into the Air may be a good and, perhaps, the first introduction. By taking self-reflective and historical perspective, John Peters seems to relativize the philosophical proposition that humans are "speaking animal"(Aristotle). That is, the author aims to redefine the idea of communication as the essence of human species as a historical phenomenon. His question is: from when have "we defined ourselves in terms of our ability to communicate with one another"(p.1)? And his answer is that the idea of communication as spiritual interpenetration is a modern invention. Then, the question to be sought hereafter may be why communication was problematized or how the concept of communication was invented in a particular period in history, although we always communicate. He implies that the feeling of "breakdown" or "impasses" of communication (due to the beginning of mass communication), and the search for "mutual communion of souls" gave birth to the modern concept of communication which, at the same time, he wants to criticize. His primary method may well be to search historical "traces". Historical method implies already a communication between the alive and the dead. The dead say their stories to us by borrowing or utilizing the mouth and the hand of the alive as a medium. The dead do not also say their stories to historians for themselves. They only left traces or externalized "texts" in Ricoeur's term. As an archeologist restores the lives and exploits of dead men from the fragments of defaced epitaph, historian should find and reconstruct the history of the ideas of communication from the traces of dispersed writings, which constitute another medium. When the dead say something to us audience, they do so through their traces or writings, and by the mouth and the hand of historians. Thus, there is an unbridgeable chasm and "breakdown" of communication between the dead and the alive. Even though unintended, historical method functions as a strategy in Speaking into the Air; it expresses the idea of communication "fixed in a direction of thought which comes from afar and stretches beyond you"(Gadamer), as Peters cites in the first page.

Peters has organized the literature about communication into categories. Among them, he discusses spiritualism, talking with the dead, and communicating with machines, animals and aliens. His sources are varied, including classic literature, the Bible, Plato, and numerous others. It isn't about communication technique or tools; this is an exploration of the question: what is communication and how do we know it's been accomplished?
It's far more than a literature review however. The concluding chapter wraps up with a touching summary, combining spirituality with love. I read the last two paragraphs to a friend. She cried.

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The weakness of this volume, however, lies in the content of Durham's "commentary" itself: the author seems to devote a considerable majority of his attention and energy to cross-referencing other major (and minor) related works, and to simply narrating the existing account; that is, less attention seems to be given to the meaning of the text, theological or otherwise, and more to simply re-telling the story.
This is not to discredit the work that is evident behind this volume: the obvious extent of research that belies this commentary is all too evident. Added pluses are the extensive running bibliographies throughout. All things considered, however, one would be wise to consult other commentaries in addition to this one.


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At times Peters seems to wander unnecessarily into discussions of such topics as spiritualism, extrasensory perception and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, but these tangents ultimately provide significant insights into the human yearning for meaningful contact.
Peters calls much of modern communications "Unmitigated bleat mixed with the rare voice of truth crying in the wilderness," a criticism not only of broadcast media, but of intimate personal conversation as well. We may chastise the media for perpetuating social inequalities and spotlighting vulgarity but, per Peters, "such criticism ought not to overlook the inequalities that exist outside media or the tawdriness that fills our hearts unbidden." Media may more reflect than shape the contents of the human heart: a scary conclusion, perhaps, but one worth thinking about.