Claire Lytton

1
The Tradition of Western Literacy

• the writing revolution

2
References

• David Crowley and Paul Heyer. Communication in
  History. 4th ed. Sydney Pearson, 2003. Part 2,
  chapter 611.
• W.H Edwards. An introduction to Aboriginal
  Societies. 2nd ed. Tuggerah, NSW Social Science
  Press, 2004, pp. 90-104

3
Overview

• An introduction to the essays

4
Writing and Knowledge

• writing systems gt revolution
• initially, for economic and political purposes
• next development writing represents speech.

5
Hieroglyphic Phonograms

• Dodson, A 2001, The hieroglyphs of Ancient Egypt,
  New Holland Publishers, London, Cape Town,
  Sydney, Auckland, p.39.

6
The first alphabet

• Which civilization developed the first alphabet?
  And when?
• the Phoenicians
• approximately 1500BC

7
Drucker The Alphabet

• How did the Greeks change the Phoenician
  alphabet?
• added vowels
• consonants became abstract sounds
• What is the significance of the Greek alphabet?
• resulted in the only writing style that has
  the capacity to represent the sounds of spoken
  language with such efficient and adaptable means
  (Drucker 200344)
• root of all subsequent alphabets in the West.

8
Havelock The Greek Legacy

• New literacy how did it change things?
• challenged craft literacy
• created the common reader through the
  implementation of schooling
• affected memory and cognition
• texts often transcribed earlier narratives from
  the oral tradition

9
Logan Writing and the Alphabet Effect

• Is a literate culture superior to a non-literate
  one?
• Literate cultures are often defined by their
  development of abstraction, analysis and
  classification (Logan 200360).
• Oral cultures however, tend to be rich in
  metaphor, nonlinear creative thought, and memory
  (Crowley Heyer 200343)
• The differences are cultural, not hierarchical
  (Crowley Heyer 200342-43)
• Further discussion in module 8.

10
Ong Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media

• psychodynamics of orality
• how do cultures, that have not had the
  benefits/limitations of literacy, perceive the
  world?
• cf Australian Aborigines
• do you know what secondary orality is?

11
Eco A Medieval Library

• Which book/film is this extract from?
• The Name of the Rose.
• When were the Middle Ages?
• 1100AD1500AD (varies)
• Which social group monopolised literacy?
• Catholic Church
• When did texts in the vernacular appear?
• 1400AD
• What other invention helped this?
• paper

12
Burke Communication in the Middle Ages

• oral nature of cultural life
• place of memory in this culture
• memory and the Ad Herennium
• implications of literacy

13
FOCUS

• Ong and Burke

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Ong, Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media

• Psychodynamics of orality
• Words possess great power (Ong 200365)
• Influenced thought processes as well as methods
  of expression
• Dependent on mnemonic patterns

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Ong, Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media
Oral Literacy
Aggregative and collective Dissecting and analytical
Present, situational thinking Abstract thinking
Human experience Impersonal Objects
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Ong, Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media

• Secondary orality
• participatory mystique, its fostering of a
  communal snese, its concentration on the present
  moment, and even its use of formulas (Ong
  200369)
• Permanently based in writing and print

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Burke, The Tradition of Western Literacy

• Documentation was rare
• Mass illiteracy
• Isolated, self-sufficient communities
• Still an emphasis on oral traditions
• Rhyme used to aid memorization
• Ad Herennium the major mnemonic reference work
  of the Middle Ages (Burke 200377-78)

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Burke, The Tradition of Western Literacy

• Became obsolete with the advent of the printing
  press
• Writing was considered a separate skill to
  reading
• Economic growth increased demand for manuscripts
• Availability of paper

19
Australian Perspective

• Aboriginal culture rich in oral traditions
• 270 different Aboriginal languages
• Reflect intimate knowledge of the physical and
  social environments (Edwards 200496)
• Concrete objects as opposed to abstract concepts

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Ngaanyatjarra Gesture Speech

• Edwards, W.H 2004, An introduction to Aboriginal
  societies, (2nd edn), Social Science Press,
  Tuggerah, NSW, p. 101

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Aboriginal Cultures and Communication

• Only 20 of 250 languages still regularly used

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