As the paradoxical relationships of orality and literacy in rhetoric and learned latin suggest, the transition from orality to literacy was slow ong 1967b, pp. Orality and literacy the technologizing of the word pdf. Like primary orality, secondary orality has generated a strong group sense, for listening to spoken words forms hearers into a group, a true audience, just as reading written or printed texts turns individuals into themselves. Oral culture is so far removed from contemporary society that we have. Ong s extraordinary orality and literacy which documents the invention of writing and its effect on culture. He believes that individuals and cultures can be fundamentally divided between those that are primary oral have never known writing and those that are literate. Orality and literacy biblical studies oxford bibliographies.
It investigates the ubiquitous and multimodal nature of the virtuality cultural phenomenon that is. Jan 23, 2007 professor mindy mcadamss presentation about some of the key ideas from walter j. The literacy part, not so much, although the transition from orality to literacy is very interesting. Topics orality collection opensource language english. The book was republished in 2002 and again on its 30 th anniversary in 2012, showing enduring interest in ongs scholarship and ideas. This search has taken place at the macro level with walter ong and jack. Sep 02, 2009 walter ongs orality and literacy is something of a classic. Walter ong characterises the main differences between the languages of oral and literate cultures in these terms. Thirtythree years ago walter ong published his lifes work in orality and literacy. When we trace language from orality, characterized by the presocratics and the passing of tradition from one mouth to the next, to literacy made possible by writing on clay tablets, we see a complex shift in human consciousness. This post is the first in a series of notes on walter ongs book orality and literacy. Wright, marked the thirtieth anniversary of walter ongs influential orality and literacy. Sep 24, 2017 with the advent of technology there is a culture of new orality that is sustained by phones, radio and television. Ong on the differences between orality and literacy new.
Orality and literacy two crucial pathways into written language. This thirtieth anniversary edition coinciding with ongs centenary year reproduces his bestknown and most influential book in full and brings it up. It explores the changes in consciousness that have been wrought by the introduction of literacy and then print into human culture. And he projects his analysis further into the age of mass electronic communications. The term literature is used to describe oral cultures despite the fact that oral narrative is often never touched by writing.
John hartley is an educator, author, researcher and commentator on the history and cultural. Slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising. He notes the benefits of literacy, but his foundational point is that writing and subsequent print culture came from something from a rich and welldeveloped culture of speech speech orality is more basic to humanity than literacy. This is a topic that i had never thought about and it is truly fascinating. Expanding walter ongs theory of orality and literacy through a. Ong i style the orality of a culture totally untouched by any knowledge or writing or print, primary orality. In the book orality and literacy, walter ong mentions a primary oral culture and a chirographic culture. Walter ong believes that writing is the single most important technology created by man, because it has had the greatest effect in shaping human consciousness. The changes, according to ong, have been momentous.
Orality and literacy professor walter ongs book explores some of the profound changes in our thought processes, personality and social structures which are the result, at various stages of our history, of the development of speech, writing and print. Lastmentioned is the pristine orality of mankind untouched by writing or print. Ongs classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, orality and literacy. Also available as a printed book see title verso for isbn details orality and literacy professor walter ongs book explores some of the profound changes in our. One of the best and most challenging books ive read in recent months is walter j. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality to literacy. The first volume appeared at a time when people were. It is primary by contrast with the secondary orality of presentday hightechnology culture, in which a new orality is sustained by telephone, radio, television, and other electronic devices that depend for their existence and functioning on writing and print. It is possible to generalize somewhat about the psychodynamics of primary oral cultures, that is, of oral cultures untouched by writing.
Ong, 9780415538381, available at book depository with free delivery worldwide. Ong 2002, ong sums up his own work over the previous three decades as well as the work of numerous other scholars. The series of events in 2012, coconvened by james emmott and tom f. Ong calls writing a technological revolution that not only transformed societies, but also restructured the way individuals think and feel in the privacy of their own minds. With regard to oral tradition and primary orality he draws on pioneering work by milman parry, albert b. Orality and literacy professor walter ong s book explores some of the profound changes in our thought processes, personality and social structures which are the result, at various stages of our history, of the development of speech, writing and print. Chapter 3 orality and literacy revisited by gilles gravelle. Ong 30 november 1912 12 august 2003 was university professor emeritus at saint louis university, usa, where he was previously professor of english and professor of humanities in psychiatry. Walter ongs psychodynamics of orality and the reader. Full text of ong walter, orality and literacy internet archive. In orality and literacy, walter ong gives a fascinating account of how the development of writing and moveable print has forever changed the way people think and process information. His major interest was in exploring how the transition from orality to literacy influenced culture and changed human consciousness. Ong does not waste ink in praise of reading and writing. This dissertation seeks to create a vision for virtuality culture through a theoretical expansion of walter ongs literacy and orality culture model.
Ong offers fascinating insights into oral genres across the globe and through time, and examines the rise of abstract philosophical and scientific thinking. The technologizing of the word 25 years ago, in 1982. His chapter entitled some psychodynamics of orality has been particularly. Profound changes in thought processes and in personality and social structures were brought about by the invention of writing and the transformation from one stage of consciousness to. Ong on the differences between orality and literacy new learning. Orality, literacy, and modern media walter oug walter ong was, until his recent retirement, professorofhumanities atsaint ljuis university. The former has no knowledge of the written language whereas the latter is rooted from the oral culture and is dominated by writing and print cultures. Walter ong celebrates orality in a way most thinkers overlook in his book, orality and literacy. In 1978 ong served as elected president of the modern language association. Ong on the differences between orality and literacy walter ong characterises the main differences between the languages of oral and literate cultures in these terms. Ongs conclusions in orality and literacy 1982 are generally regarded as accurate depictions, and serve as the foundation for development of theories, strategies, and methodologies.
Ong walter jackson ong sj november 30, 1912 august 12, 2003 was an american jesuit priest, professor of english literature, cultural and religious historian and philosopher. Ong s classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, printed and electronic technologies, and their impact, isbn 9780415538374 buy the orality and literacy. However, while the contrastive procedure in orality and literacy etched in. Ong 19122003 is highly regarded within the universal view camp. Communication theoryorality and literacy wikibooks, open. Walter jackson ong sj november 30, 1912 august 12, 2003 was an american jesuit priest, professor of english literature, cultural and religious historian and philosopher. He considers the impact of orality literacy studies not only on literary criticism and theory but on our very understanding of what it is to be a human. His many publications have been highly influential for studies in the evolution of consciousness.
Orality and literacy 25 years later semantic scholar. As i read ong, i kept having what i will call ongmoments. Ongs classic work provides a fascinating insight into the social effects of oral, written, printed and electronic technologies, and their impact on philosophical, theological, scientific and literary thought. Walter ong s 1988 book orality and literacy was a landmark in communication theory, articulating many of the central concerns of the toronto school about the relationship between technologies of. His account has more than just historical interest, however, as there remain in the world today many cultures that are primarily oral. Orality, literacy, and modern media in davdcrowlyanaul heyer, communication in history.
Secondary orality is both remarkably like and remarkably unlike primary orality. Pdf on the theoretical foundations of orality and literacy. The book, so far, is a corker, and looks to have significant implications for any discussion of markets as conversations and the like. Writing, in the strict sense of the word, the technology which has shaped and powered the intellectual activity of modern man, was a very late development in human history. Orality and literacy 1982 walter ong the orality of language verbal language is paramount no other type of language can exist without it grapholect. The orality and literacy issue revisited oral tradition journal.
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