The Transition from Orality to Literacy and Electorally - Essay Example

The Transition from Orality to Literacy and Electracy Orality has been defined by Webster’s English dictionary as a reliance on spoken, rather than written language for communication. Literacy on the other hand is the ability to read and write. (Webster’s New World College Dictionary) These terms also describe man’s journey from his beginnings to the present day. Orality is completely natural to human beings, considering that every human being in every part of the world first learns to speak. It is an extension of his interaction with other human beings and comes first as a process of imitation and then evolves as putting conscious thoughts into words. Literacy on the other hand has been described by scholars ranging from Plato to Walter Ong as a technology that must be learned, and which effects the first transformation of human thought from the world of sound to the world of sight. In most cultures religious texts were committed to memory and passed on from one generation to another by word of mouth. The Qur’an, the holy book of the Muslims, is recited aloud from rote memorization; so too the Vedic texts of the Hindus. Long before the written word, in primitive times, stories were passed on from generation to generation by word of mouth. Knowledge and traditions in ancient cultures were preserved by repetition until they were memorized and passed on orally from one generation to another.  In ancient cultures, a tradition of oral poetry was the nucleus around which society was organized. It was through the poems of wandering bards and story tellers that people got their education as well as entertainment. This trend continued till the discovery of the written word. The discovery and use of the alphabet in the eighth century was only the beginning of the transition to the use of letters. The transition from orality to literacy however, was a very slow process and long after the written word was accepted as the best form of communication, texts were still read aloud. As Havelock pointed out that even after the invention of the alphabet, there was “a long period of resistance to the use of letters”. (The Muse Learns to Write) At first the poems, ballads and stories of the bards were put into writing, and later writing was used to record commercial transactions. As the textual form took shape, the focus shifted from performance based aural reception to the visual impact of the written word. Walter Ong developed a theory of how human personality and consciousness were changed by the invention of writing. Ong’s theory spoke of how human consciousness was altered by the shift from the kind of perception that was dominated by the ear to the kind of perception that is dominated by the eye. He maintained that literacy changes perception from the auditory and temporal to the visual and spatial.  On the other hand, Julian Jaynes believes that the people during the period of orality did not possess consciousness as we know it today. He suggests that ancient human beings had no sense of an interior, directing self. They accepted the word of their chiefs/kings/gods without question. They did not introspect. Jaynes argued that the change from this mode of thinking (which he called the bicameral mind) to consciousness occurred over a period of centuries and was based on the emergence of writing. Yet for a long time, reading aloud was an aid to memorization and oral recitation. As literacy became increasingly widespread, and more and more documentation of the cultural heritage took place, the need to re-create and recite the traditions of society tapered off, gradually becoming redundant and giving way to writing forms that allowed not just translation but also tested knowledge and intellect. For centuries, the oral traditions existed along with and as a part of the changing technology of literacy. Although writing did not eliminate orality, it pushed it into the background; yet, the ability to speak extempore on a given subject is highly valued even today. By the mid twentieth century most humans became comfortable with reading and writing, and most of the world excluding a few remote tribal areas was literate. It was at this juncture that the electronic revolution struck and the world was again embroiled in a transition from literacy to what became known as electracy. Electracy a term coined by Gregory Ulmer describes something that is new in this age of computing – a combination of the words electricity and literacy. As Gregory Ulmer puts it electracy "is to digital media what literacy is to print." (Internet Invention: From Literacy to Electracy) Electrate learning consists of participation and processes of creativity, discovery and learning by doing, and is based largely on the visual effect of images. At present there is a transition from the dominance of writing to that of the image and at the same time, the medium has changed from the book to the screen. This has produced a revolution in the uses and effects of literacy, as well as its representation at every level. The image is the dominant icon of electracy. A definition of twenty-first century literacy offered by the New Media Consortium states that it is “the set of abilities and skills where aural, visual, and digital literacy overlap. These include the ability to understand the power of images and sounds, to recognize and use that power, to manipulate and transform digital media, to distribute them pervasively, and to easily adapt them to new forms.” (New Media Consortium) As some part of orality remained in the transition from orality to literacy, so also in the transition to electracy, the ability to read and write remains a primary skill. In other words, it is important to absorb new competencies, without pushing aside old skills to engage in this new culture. Formal and informal memberships in online communities center on various forms of media, producing new creative forms, working together in formal and informal groups to complete tasks and develop new knowledge. As the internet dims geographical boundaries, students of the world learn by working with each other and discussing issues in groups. Here valuable lessons in problem solving and team building are learned that could prove useful for them in later life. Young people and children learn with and from their peers in their daily activities as they sit before their computer screens and mobile devices. Hence today people and more so the younger generation, are more inclined toward the use of visual image than the written word. The saga of human communication can be said to rest on the three pillars of Orality, Literacy and Electracy. Each new communication technology created by human society is artificial at first, and is viewed with anxiety and a modicum of fear; however, when it is finally absorbed it transforms both consciousness and communications. Until this happens, those exposed to the new mode of communication are uncomfortable and questions are raised about its suitability. For example, Plato believed that writing was inhuman and it allowed memory which is central to oral thought, to deteriorate. Writing was also considered passive as it did not allow a reader to interrogate a text as he could a speaker. Today’s concern is that reading on the Internet, in preference to printed books, erodes memorization and critical thinking skills. As each new technology is absorbed and adopted a residue of older modes of consciousness remains. Every new mode builds upon the old but never completely replaces it. Works Cited “Orality” Webster’s New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 16th. December 2009 “Literacy” Webster’s New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 16th. December 2009 Eric A Havelock, The Muse Learns to Write (New Haven and London: Yale University Press 1986) P 90 Definition of 21st century literacy The New Media Consortium A Global Imperative Report of the 21st. Century Literacy Summit Page 8 16th. December 2009 http://www.adobe.com/education/solutions/pdfs/globalimperative.pdf Ulmer, G. L. (2003). Internet Invention: From Literacy to Electracy. New York: Longman. Read More