Description: In this latest book, J. Marshall Unger exposes the historical, scientific, cultural, and practical flaws accompanying the widespread belief that Chinese characters embody pure, language-less meaning. Whether one is interested in Chinese characters from the standpoint of language, literature, semiotics, psychology, history, cultural studies, or computers, Ideogram contains new ideas and insights that are sure to challenge preconceptions and provoke thought.
Brief description: J. Marshall Unger is Emeritus Professor of Japanese at Ohio State University. His research has focused on the history of Japanese, teaching Japanese as a second language, and writing systems of East Asia. Two of his books, The Fifth Generation Fallacy and Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan, are available in Japanese.