Tag Archives: orality

Technology and the Resurgence of Orality

Features of orality are resurfacing with modern technology. Writing has been the overwhelming technology for recording information for centuries. At its inception, writing was criticized for how it would affect our mind. (Postman, 1992) It removed discourse, much of the … Continue reading

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Wrestling with Remediation

Throughout our fourth module, the term remediation – and the concept of it – has stuck with me the most. In J. D. Bolter’s book, Writing Space, the inferred definition could be “change with some kind of clash or one-upmanship” … Continue reading

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The Original RT – Radio to Television

Introduction Today, the Internet commands so much attention that it is easy to forget about pre-established channels of media that are mixed up within its melting pot: radio and television. Although not a purely direct line, we would not have … Continue reading

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First Nations from Orality to Writing

First Nations from Orality to Writing Introduction Click here for a recording of “Storyteller” by Joan Crate (2008, p. 388). Until contacted by European explorers and settlers, Canadian First Nations’ communities were what Ong (1982) would call primarily oral. Their … Continue reading

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Critiquing Ong and the Relationship of Literacy to Culture

Walter J. Ong is a renowned scholar, university Professor of English and Humanities in Psychiatry and the author of several highly influential studies on the transformation of human consciousness (Ong, 1982). He is an expert in the field of orality … Continue reading

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From Orality to Print: How Memory Aids Saved the Epic Tale

In his book, Orality and Literacy, Walter J. Ong compares the differences between how oral and literate cultures communicate knowledge. Chapter 3 specifically addresses the qualities of primary oral cultures in contrast to the chirographic, typographic and literate cultures of … Continue reading

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Is Determinism Too Determined?

Is Determinism Too Determined? Introduction Ong (1982) poses that the technology of writing enables us to reach our full potential, that we can gain a higher consciousness, and to “live and to understand fully, we need proximity but also distance” … Continue reading

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Write & Wrong

Introduction In the first few weeks of our course, we have read and talked about two separate cultures – oral ones, and literate ones. In the past, especially, oral cultures have been thought to be more simple, primitive, and not … Continue reading

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Bridging Dichotomies

Please follow this link to view my formal commentary, Bridging Dichotomies. For my commentary I attempted to explore the possibilities of a hypertext writing space. I used a tool for creating interactive stories called Twine. Twine allows for graphic organization … Continue reading

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Commentary #1

In the chapter ‘Some Psychodynamics of Orality’, from the 1982 text Orality and Literacy, Walter Ong provides a generalization of the psychodynamics found in oral and primarily oral cultures. The exercise examines the thoughts, mechanics, patterns, mnemonics, and strategies of … Continue reading

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