Communications

by Raymond Williams

Williams's fascinating investigation into forms of communication as they stood in 1962 - computers, radio, television, printing, photography, film - remains remarkably relevant today. The idea that reality is primary, and that communication of that reality secondary, is debunked - if we take the view that there is life, and then afterwards accounts of it, we degrade art and learning. Communications are, he argues, a major way in which reality is continually formed and changed. This is Williams's compelling introduction to modern means and institutions of communication.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cultural, Politics, History, Sociology

185 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Raymond Henry Williams was a Welsh academic, novelist, and critic. He taught for many years and the Professor of Drama at the University of Cambridge. He was an influential figure within the New Left and in wider culture. His writings on politics, culture, the mass media and literature are a significant contribution to the Marxist critique of culture and the arts. His work laid the foundations for the field of cultural studies and the cultural materialist approach. Among his many books are Culture and Society, Culture and Materialism, Politics and Letters, Problems in Materialism and Culture, and several novels.

Reviews

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just ok. Probably outdated but to the degree that it isn't its ideas seem very common sense. Liberty of press and power of finance in art must be curbed by democratized state institutions. You don't need a book to make that case — I can do it in a goodreads review even!!

[Opal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This flits between fascinating and wildly dull but I mostly feel glad I read it