I hope you've read Walter Ong's brilliant 1980 work, "Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word," which describes the profound psychological transformation that alphabetic literacy brought to humans individually and culturally, and the role of "secondary orality" as a constant (though variant-looking) cultural form w/o a cultu…
I hope you've read Walter Ong's brilliant 1980 work, "Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word," which describes the profound psychological transformation that alphabetic literacy brought to humans individually and culturally, and the role of "secondary orality" as a constant (though variant-looking) cultural form w/o a cultural that has finally externalized memory.
The Print Revolution was more overtly disruptive, and the early modern era in Europe bears many frightening analogies with political & sociocultural dynamics today.
And I most definitely shall have to get a copy of Orality and Literacy. Also, should have added the influence The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman had on that essay about childhood.
The printed word took control away from the church and allowed people to find information on their own without an intermediary interpreting it for them. Certainly, the Internet did a similar thing, making all information available and those in power are battling now to control information once again. One way they are doing it is to flood us with so much information of little value that we become zombies, unable to absorb anything just stare at the screen. Another interesting thing about making all information available is that it destroyed the innocence of childhood. A book that is great on this topic is Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death.
I hope you've read Walter Ong's brilliant 1980 work, "Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word," which describes the profound psychological transformation that alphabetic literacy brought to humans individually and culturally, and the role of "secondary orality" as a constant (though variant-looking) cultural form w/o a cultural that has finally externalized memory.
The Print Revolution was more overtly disruptive, and the early modern era in Europe bears many frightening analogies with political & sociocultural dynamics today.
And I most definitely shall have to get a copy of Orality and Literacy. Also, should have added the influence The Disappearance of Childhood by Neil Postman had on that essay about childhood.
Aloha Lowen,
I’m so glad to know another fan of Walter Ong. Orality and Literacy is a classic! I’ve been collecting his books for a long time.
Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner: LINGUISTICS: A Revolution In Teaching.
Neil Postman: Author of The Disapearance of Childhood, and Amusing Ourselves To Death.
I absolutely agree with your summary of Walter Ong’s books.
Yes, I meant to add The Disappearance of Childhood to my comment as well.
I haven't read it but I did write about some of that disruption of the printing press in The War for Children's Minds. https://open.substack.com/pub/khmezek/p/a-battle-for-the-minds-of-children
The printed word took control away from the church and allowed people to find information on their own without an intermediary interpreting it for them. Certainly, the Internet did a similar thing, making all information available and those in power are battling now to control information once again. One way they are doing it is to flood us with so much information of little value that we become zombies, unable to absorb anything just stare at the screen. Another interesting thing about making all information available is that it destroyed the innocence of childhood. A book that is great on this topic is Neil Postman's Amusing Ourselves to Death.