Orality and Literacy

Walter J. Ong

The first few chapters remind me of how storytelling and other forms of oral communication to this day are still forms of “technology”. We currently use computers or even notepads as ways of getting certain things accomplished, or getting our messages accross. In terms of storytelling, Ong points out that the Greeks during Homer’s age relied on different uses of language in order to retain knowledge. In other words, if someone’s thoughts were not constantly repeated or expressed in a way that was easy to remember, then they would be lost. Methods of remembering stories were imporant in societies that lacked literary capabilities (as compared to other societies that have some form of written word to refer back to). It reminded me of how I learned my ABC’s by singing the song before I was old enough to write the entire alphabet.

I never thought about literature coming after oral expression, therefore it was interesting to read that among the 3,000 or so languages that exist, only 78 have literature.