1:3 – Orality & Literacy: Two Sides of the Same… Möbius Strip?

Explain why the notion that cultures can be distinguished as either “oral culture” or “written culture” (19) is a mistaken understanding as to how culture works, according to Chamberlin and your reading of Courtney MacNeil’s article “Orality.

As humans, we like to categorize things. We lump things together into as few categories as possible, with two categories being the simplest and so preferable number of categories. These dichotomies are pervasive, and can be seen all around us: boys and girls, here and there, developed countries and developing countries, us and them. We form these categories because the world around us is infinitely complex, and only through the lumping together of disparate people, places, or things can we make this complexity manageable.

But sometimes (if not all the time) these dichotomies are wrong. These false dichotomies are often harmless, such as the distinction between living and nonliving things – frustrated by the virus – the only consequence of which is the irritation of scientists, but at other times there can be serious consequences to these incorrect categorizations. One of these dangerous false dichotomies, discussed by J. Edward Chamberlain and Courtney MacNeil, is that of oral or written cultures.

Chamberlain refers to this dichotomy as that of the “babbling barbarians and the written languages of civilized people” (18). He goes on to discuss how cultures are often placed into one of two categories, as either oral or literate. The division of cultures into oral and literate has a much more profound effects than just a division of communication style. Chamberlain explains that oral cultures are often associated with “primitive consciousness”, while literacy is associated with “modern thought” (19). MacNeil expands on this idea, arguing that this dichotomy promotes the view of “writing – alphabetic writing in particular – [as] the key to evolutionary progress.”

One does not have to look very hard before one discovers cultures that defy this absurd dichotomy of being either oral or literate. The Anglo Saxons are often purported to have been a stereotypical oral culture, and given their position in history seem to embody the ‘primitive’ connotation many oral cultures have. But in reality, the Anglo Saxons did use writing to tell stories and pass messages, just not in a form recognizable to modern sensibilities. A quintessential example of which is the Ruthwell Cross.

It isn’t even necessary to look backwards in time to the Anglo Saxons to find an example of a culture that is both oral and written. In her essay, MacNeil points out that in modern western culture (the culture I presume most readers of this blog will identify with) the “distinction between the two media becomes blurred.” MacNeil attributes this blurring to technology, specifically cyberspace, and the advent of storable, repeatable sound files and the equally indefinable instant message.

In this way, oral and written cultures remind me of a möbius strip (see image at top). At first glance there are two distinct sides to the strip, parallel, and close together, but separate. When you look closer however, you realize that in fact there is only one side, circling back upon itself forever, defying any attempt to distinguish left from right, up from down, forward from backwards. So too, does the distinction between orality and literacy defy distinction. Therefore, to define any culture – be it ancient or modern, ‘primitive’ or ‘progressive’, Anglo Saxon or Canadian – as either oral or written is a fallacy .

Works Cited

Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto. AA. Knopf. 2003. Print.

Delahoyde, Michael. “Anglo-Saxon Culture.” Medieval Literature, Arts, and Humanities. Washington State University, n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.

MacNeil, Courtney. “Orality.” The Chicago School of Media Theory. Uchicagoedublogs. 2007. Web. May 20, 2016.

Möbius Strip. Digital image. 99volo.com. N.p., 18 Nov. 2015. Web. 20 May 2016.

Rice, George. “Are Viruses Alive?” Yellowstone Thermal Viruses. Microbial Life, n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.

“Ruthwell Cross Factsheet.” Birth of a Nation – History Trails. BBC, n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.