Prompt no. 1: 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.”
Chamberlin and MacNeil’s works both investigate the topic of orality and literacy in culture. The perception exists, within certain circles, that any given culture bears an affinity for one or the other mode of communicating and storytelling, and that the oral and the literate are inherently in conflict. MacNeil writes in opposition to this idea, asserting that it is false to believe “orality exists in a dialectical relationship with literacy, and that communication is a competition between eye and ear” (MacNeil). Why is this perception of how culture works false, and what consequences occur as a result of this inaccurate dichotomy?
Separating the concepts of literacy and orality into diametrically opposed camps naturally invites subsequent signification, elevation, and denigration. According to MacNeil, one of the ways in which orality has been signified has been as “a primitive or undeveloped medium” (MacNeil). In contrast, literacy has been considered civilized and enlightened. These perceptions are not neutral or coincidental–they establish a hierarchy where literacy, and “literate cultures,” are considered more advanced (perhaps, even, more human) than “oral cultures.” Such ideas are incredibly damaging, as they can and have been used in projects of colonialism in order to dehumanize Indigenous people and vilify orality. This is in sharp contrast to the ways that Indigenous cultures in Canada typically portray oral traditions and culture.
In addition to the ways in which the oral/literate divide has been fabricated and utilized, it isn’t even necessarily useful (or accurate) to consider these concepts as occupying opposite sides of a spectrum–or, perhaps, as separate at all. As the following quote says, the integration of oral and textual is becoming increasingly common as technology changes the way we communicate: “in a world of e-mail communication, music downloading, and MOO chat rooms, the question is not of whether, but rather of how the oral and textual are integrated” (MacNeil). While instances of oral-text hybrids have likely existed for as long as the written language, the variety and frequency with which these occur is newer. Indeed, as is further explored in this news article, the lines between “oral” and “textual” interaction on online social media are becoming more and more blurred.
Works Cited
Madrigal, Alexis C. “Oral Culture, Literate Culture, Twitter Culture.” The Atlantic, 31 May 2011, www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/oral-culture-literate-culture-twitter-culture/239697/.
Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. Toronto: AA. Knopf. 2003. Print.
MacNeil, Courtney. “Orality.” The Chicago School of Media Theory. Uchicagoedublogs. 2007.
First Nations Pedagogy Online. “Storytelling.” 2009, firstnationspedagogy.ca/about.html.
