I say this because I guess am one, a species on the brink of extinction. I much prefer a book over a Kindle. I like the touch and feel of a book, the ability to shove it in my backpack, get the covers tattered up, dog ear the page corners and resume reading in a quiet place. There is a sense of ownership and mobility. Ong alluded to this as well: “Print was also a major factor in the development of the sense of personal privacy that marks modern society” (128). In manuscript culture and hence in early print culture, reading had tended to be a social activity, one person reading to others in a group (Ong 128). More so, the book was less like an utterance, and more like a thing (Ong 123).
This post will attempt to tackle the following question: How did the invention of the press modify the ways in which readers related to text, and how did this shift promote changes in literary form?
Ong describes how print encourages a sense of closure; it’s autonomous and indifferent to attack (129). This is similar to journalism; when something is in print, it’s permanent but other modes of communication like in radio, there is leeway for error.
Frost describes books as a mammal, an abstraction that transcends across all media and reading modes. This made me think about the layout traits of codex and scroll. Frost mentions how codex was more economical, but that the economy of duplex writing was also offset by loss to gutter margins. (Disclaimer: I didn’t know what was meant by duplex writing so what did I do?…I transitioned to another mode, Google).
He makes a valid point about how scroll was associated with recitation and spoken delivery, adhering more to listeners whereas codex accommodated readers and writers. Keep and Parmar also bring up a very telling observation about the socio-economic impacts of print and literary form: Literacy was largely a privilege of the upper class, the landed gentry or agents of the Church…Military and statesmen, civil servants – those that earned their living with the pen alone.
Though I question the data on this, Ong also alludes to this socio-economic impact of print as well, citing Steiner who suggests that “private reading demands a home spacious enough to provide for individual isolation and quiet. Teachers of children from poverty areas today are acutely aware that often the major reason for poor performance is that there is nowhere in a crowded house where a boy or girl can study effectively” (128).
As we transition from print to digital formats, this got me thinking…Has such things as Wifi become a basic need in Canadian society? Is pen & paper sufficient now that we have laptops, Texture, e-books and Kindles? Can we afford cable? Can we afford print magazines over online subscriptions and account logins?
References
Frost, Gary. “Scroll to Codex Transition.” Futureofthebook.com, 2000, https://web.archive.org/web/20060511022155/http://www.futureofthebook.com/storiestoc/scroll. Accessed June 12, 2018.
Keep, C., McLaughlin, T., & Parmar, R. “Manuscript Circulation.” The electronic labyrinth, 1995, http://www2.iath.virginia.edu/elab/hfl0262.html. Accessed June 11, 2018.
Ong, Walter J.. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word, RoutledgeFalmer, 2002. ProQuest Ebook Central, http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubc/detail.action?docID=181644.
marcia kondo
June 29, 2018 — 2:24 pm
I really enjoyed reading your post. In some ways, I suppose I am a dinosaur, too, though I do admit I see some positives to e-reading that I wanted to share with you.
I didn’t start reading online until a couple of years ago. While I still prefer the feel of a book, I find that it is much less costly to simply check out e-books from my local library website, and that my small home is not overflowing with bookshelves of books which started to be the case (both husband and daughter adore reading and buying books). I think when I have a larger home I may feel differently about purchasing books again. Finally, when traveling, I am always wary of bringing books because of weight and for fear or ruining them, so because of this, I have found traveling with my iPad loaded up with reading material is a great way to go.
In this course, I purchased a used copy of Bolter’s book but have been reading Ong on my iPad. I am enjoying reading Bolter far more than Ong but I’m not sure that has much to do with the reading medium! I admit that when I’m reading from my iPad, I wish I knew more about how to “write” onto the “pages” and make notes and highlight. The other day I was reading Bolter, however, and found that I did not have a pen nor highlighter and was stuck that way, too and ended up making a few notes on my phone!
I like your point about privacy and being able to read alone rather than as a readaloud session in a large group. I wonder if this has anything to do with what kind of learner we are, as in auditory or reading/writing and kinesthetic. I do believe enjoying holding a book and turning the physical pages are a bit to do with being a kinesthetic learner. For me, I definitely find myself getting distracted while listening to audio only or a lecture rather than having something to goa along with it.
At the same time however, along with privacy is also the ability to share a book, which is a different kind of mobility than being able to transport it along with yourself. I remember as a child enjoying playing “library” where I would make little pockets and cards inside my books and lend them to friends. It is a nice feeling to not only be able to recommend a book to a friend, but to physically lend it to them, as well. I feel like when others recommend a book to me, I am far less likely to remember the title, go out and get it and read it, than if someone were to tell me about it and physically hand it over to me.
Anyway, from one Dino to another,
Marcia