The Alphabet Versus the Goddess: The Conflict Between Word and Image

That's a pretty audacious claim, one that The Alphabet Versus the Goddess provides extensive historical and cultural correlations to support. Shlain's thesis takes readers from the evolutionary steps that distinguish the human brain from that of the primates to the development of the Internet. The very act of learning written language, he argues, exercises the human brain's left hemisphere--the half that handles linear, abstract thought--and enforces its dominance over the right hemisphere, which thinks holistically and visually. If you accept the idea that linear abstraction is a masculine trait, and that holistic visualization is feminine, the rest of the theory falls into place. The flip side is that as visual orientation returns to prominence within society through film, television, and cyberspace, the status of women increases, soon to return to the equilibrium of the earliest human cultures. Shlain wisely presents this view of history as plausible rather than definite, but whether you agree with his wide-ranging speculations or not, he provides readers eager to "understand it all" with much to consider. --Ron Hogan

Product Description
A profound and provocative book which proposes that alphabetic literally rewired the brain and changed culture, religion, and history--written by the acclaimed author of "Art and Physics: Parallel Visions in Space, Time, and Light" (soon to be a three-part MSNBC series). 35 illustrations.

The main premise is not that literacy itself is the "root of all evil" or the sole cause of the oppression of women and feminine based religions. Rather, these things occur when alphabet literacy (primarily a left-brain, masculine function) is exalted and revered to the exclusion of all else. It is when linear, concrete thinking overrides image, the abstract, and intuition that conflict arises. The key is, to put it simply, balance. The feminine and masculine sides are neither "good" nor "bad", just different facets of the mind that need each other to be complete.

I love to read, probably more than most people. It is rare to find me in a spare moment with my nose not buried in a book. And there is no denying the tremendous value and importance the written word has in our lives. Yet I see and understand the necessity of this balance. Too often people will believe the most ridiculous statements, simply because they are in written form. (The supermarket tabloids and internet rumors are two obvious examples of this.) Reading and writing are also primarily solitary pursuits, which tend to shift our focus away from the world and people around us, to the point of indifference or, in extreme cases, outright hate. Balance, balance, balance.

I cannot help but make a couple observations on the review from San Francisco - One, the comment about the author being a doctor, which makes his words gospel and infallible. Only once in the entire book (in the preface) does the author identify himself as a doctor. He does this only to explain his knowledge of the neuroanatomical portion of his hypothesis. His title is not on the cover or the copyright page or anywhere else in the book. I don't see a basis for the insinuation that the author is "throwing his weight around" as a doctor, so his opinion should of course be correct. Also, did anyone else find the line about how the "precious resource" of paper and ink were "wasted" amusing? After reading this incredible book (which you don't have to agree with to enjoy, anyway; it's fascinating stuff!) the reviewer throws in a comment which perfectly epitomizes the problem of raising alphabet literacy to divine proportions. I don't know if anyone else caught that, but gave me a chuckle or two.


Intelligent, insightful, provocative and challenging!   February 24, 2000
D. Richard (Ridgefield, CT)
19 out of 20 found this review helpful

Intelligent, insightful, provocative and challenging, this is a book I could hardly put down! For many, Leonard Shlain's thesis will be difficult to swallow, cutting across cultural and religious prejudices and taboos with the precision of a surgeon's scalpel. (The author's specialty is brain surgery). For others, this books will evoke many 'Ahas's' and 'Amens'. Unlike many contempory authors, Mr. Shlain offers us a genuine vision of ourselves. To borrow a Zen metaphor, reading this book is like holding up a polished mirror which allows us to see ourselves more clearly and wholly. In particular, the issue of hemispherical dominance in relationship to perception, communication, art, religion, politics, gender roles and values, psychology and philosophy is illuminated by this perspective. And the central question of 'What became of the Goddess?'is given a strong and intelligent reply.

Where I would like to see more emphasis in the book is on the perception of sound as well as visual stimulus. For example, music is not examined as the potentially integrating artform that can overcome the schizophrenic tendencies of left-brained written language and right-brained visual imagery. And the left brained time dominance over image and sound is not considered in relationship to motion pictures (film) or digital technology/voice transmission and music.

Despite these differences in perception and opinion, this is an important book addressing critical issues in our evolution and survival as a species. I hope to read more books by this author of wit, style and substance!


Brilliant   January 17, 2000
Laurel LaFey (charlotte, nc)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

Every so often I read a book that makes me groan, wishing that I'd seen the connection first, that I were a writer, that I'd written THIS book. In a class with Sjoo and Moore, Eisler, and Merlin Stone, The Alphabet vs. the Goddess connects the dots and follows them into our collective future. The question of the past few decades "HOW did humankind transition from matrifocal culture to patriarchal, and why?" is answered brilliantly in this book (and finally, a much more plausible answer than just 'IndoEuropean Invaders'). I LOVED this book, it will go high on my list of titles to recommend. Even if you are immersed in academia, studying linguistics and philosophy (as I once was) don't worry about the negative review posted below -- take it as an indication of how revolutionary this work is. Its a book I am tempted to immediately read again, the second time with a highlighter in hand.


Are we truly entering into a new "Golden Age" as the author espouses?   July 23, 2005
Jennifer Chapin (Halifax, NS, Canada)
14 out of 15 found this review helpful

This book posits the theory that a rise in alphabet literacy was accompanied by an equal decline in the reverence that ancient societies had for the Goddess and, in more contemporary societies, for the values associated with the feminine.

The book is provocative in its offering and yet seems to confirm a theory that I have always espoused, that the rise of scientific rationalism, associated with left-brain thinking, at the expense of the more intuitive, creative and imaginary side, will ultimately spell the doom of all of us. It is interesting that this book was published before the dramatic turn of events that began with 9/11, the war in Iraq, and the ensuing entrenchment of a right-wing religious fanaticism evident in both the Christian West and the Muslim East. This "bunker mentality" has now led the way for a decline into savagery, of which factions within the Western and Arab Worlds must both be held accountable. The "Clash of Civilizations" made famous by Samuel Huntington must be a phrase surely reserved for the patriarchal, left-brain adherents who, while bowing to the same male god, are foisting upon the world a type of barbarism evident during the crusades and other epochs, where a dangerous and incipient nationalism, or a sense of religious exclusivity, ultimately meant that the "other", women, children, nature, those not of your ken, would be repressed, violated and destroyed. You would not find this in a matriarchal, agrarian society.

I wonder if Dr. Shlain could now write, as he did in his epilogue, that we are entering into a "new Golden Age"?








yThink againy "   June 4, 2003
Ashwin (Bangalore, India)
13 out of 14 found this review helpful

LS is quite revolutionary in his ideas and thinking, and complements this with an excellent writing style that puts him perhaps, somewhere in the league of writers such as Will Durant, those rare species of people gifted with the ability to convert history into an engrossing tale.

Where LS differs though, and significantly, is that he becomes an active observer of history, viewing it through the lenses of an idea, the idea itself being that the spread of alphabetic literacy amongst peoples has always resulted in a decline of the rights and status of women. Sounds bold? This is perhaps the lesser of controversial statements he makes, and the book races from ancient Sumerian civilizations to the present day, with numerous bold hypotheses and interpretations of facts available. Credit goes to the author for frequently pointing out his hypotheses by terms such as "I would like to propose that...", and the reader will come across yet another startling viewpoint backed by selected examples. In fact some of LS's viewpoints are so outrageously unconventional, that ones' own defense mechanism of `credibility' kicks in, and refuses to question beliefs we hold so dear and true.

But therein lies the power of this book, and it arises from the brilliant story-telling which makes the book extremely difficult to put down, once begun. A quick view of the References at the end of the book shows clearly that LS has found his facts in not just feminist literature, but even textbooks and classics such as "The structure of Myth", by Claude Levi-Strauss. The reader needn't agree with LS throughout the book, but the book's brilliance lies in showing the ability and scope needed to reinterpret history with powerful eloquence, and LS succeeds well at that.

Not recommended for people with strong religious beliefs. Highly recommended for readers interested in history, feminism and for non-conventional thinkers, to name a few!!