Tag Archives: Orality

Thoroughly Remediated!

Thinking about connections, I think probably the key connection that has helped bring sense to all we have discussed is “remediation.” Through the contributions of everyone in the course, I think it is fair to say that my understanding of … Continue reading

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Literacy and Orality: Preserving endangered oral languages with literacy

In the book Orality and Literacy by Walter Ong (1982), the author describes how languages have evolved from an oral form to a written or literate form. He not only describes the origin of oral languages and the transitions to … Continue reading

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Where literacy and technological determinism collide

The steady upward climb of humanity from the rustic simplicity of prehistoric times towards the modern digital age has been long and arduous; fraught with peril and upheaval, power shifts and cultural extinctions, and an ever-increasing rate of technological innovation. … Continue reading

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Paradox and Tension in Theories of Orality, Text and Technology

Paradox is defined as contradiction or conflict with statements that are reasonable or possible. (Merriam Webster Dictionary)  Theories surrounding the nature of orality, text and technology is rife with paradox. It is through illuminating paradox that we become comfortable with … Continue reading

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Commentary #1: Determined by technology or determined by our actions

Postman’s article, The Judgement of Thamus (Postman, 1993), illustrates how new technologies alter our conception of reality. This transformation is an ecological change. The intrusion of a new technology involves an entire culture and context. It is not possible to … Continue reading

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Ecology of Orality

The gradual shift from orality to literacy has been much discussed and marveled at. It is fascinating to see how orality dominated the human culture for so long and then was over taken by literacy. Now many call orality primitive … Continue reading

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Text as Technology

Text as the written word is a technology to capture orality. Ong describes text as technology on page 8 without really saying it in a couple of places. First he describes the world of sound as the natural habitat of … Continue reading

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