While reading If This is Your Land, Where Are Your Stories? by J. Edward Chamberlin, I found his discussion of how speaking and listening are considered by many as “simple and natural” while writing and reading are considered “cultivated and complex” (19) to be enlightening, as I realized this was something I subconsciously thought as well. This was personally surprising, because I would never consider literate individuals and societies as being the only ones capable of real thought, a popular concept that he also describes (19). However, my opinion is not shared by all, and many consider oral cultures as being “imprisoned in the present, uninterested in definitions, unable to make analytic distinctions and incapable of genuine self-consciousness” (Chamberlin 19). Rather, oral culture has often been seen as no more than a functional method of promoting group solidarity and defining social norms to new generations. This perspective only acts to minimize the significance of the historically specific circumstances that promoted the production of oral literature.
As Courtney Macneil discusses in “Orality,” while orality and literacy both act as mediums of communication, it is unreasonable and incorrect to consider the two as existing in competition with one another. Classifying a society as oral or written in its culture not only suggests that a singular preference for one or the other is possible, but also that orality exists in an unequal dialectical relationship with one another. While this type of dichotomy is argued and supported by several scholars such as Harold Innis, Eric Havelock, Marshall McLuhan, and Walter Ong, recent scholars have come to question the proposed opposition between literacy and orality (Macneil). For example, Bruce Rosenberg suggested a dynamic that involves the pairing of the two mediums, laying the groundwork for considering their equivalency and mutual dependency (Macneil). Considering this, the oral and written do not need to be placed within some structures hierarchy as independent entities, as each influences the other and they continue to coexist in more forms than we realize.
A distinction between the two becomes particularly unclear in modern times as we navigate the space of the internet, as social media provides the platform upon which all may share their immediate voices in written form. In other words, social media is the contemporary hybrid of the two mediums through which readers are given “direct access to the speaking subject” (Macneil). In his article “Oral Culture, Literate Culture, Twitter Culture,” Alexis Madrigal describes the reemergence of oral psychodynamics in the public sphere as websites such as twitter act to provide highly conversational forms of writing, illustrating the interaction of oral and written communication. In other words, Western civilizations like to think of themselves as highly literate-thinking, while thriving upon the use of technology that employs the hybridity of orality and literature and allows individuals to share their voices and stories in written form. These “written cultures” are highly dependent on oral traditions, from the fairy tales passed down to children from their parents, to the ways in which we speak and share stories with others as adults. Further, apparent “oral cultures” contain various types of literate documentation, although in less recognizable forms. Chamberlin discusses this and explains how many of these “non-syllabic and non-alphabetic” (20) forms of writing function in the same ways for these cultures as texts do in European communities. These alternative forms of writing include intricate clothing and art, such as beaded belts or blankets and carved poles, figures, or masks, to name a few (Chamberlin 19).
Totems: The stories they tell. Web. Accessed 27 Jan. 2020.
Take one of the most popular examples: the totem pole. Even if you’re not from Canada, you’ve probably seen them around campus. This Website has a short video with some basic information about them, and the ways that they often acts as documentation of Indigenous history. Essentially, they are the form through which West Coast First Nations began documenting historical events, and the stories of their families and clans. Whether we realize it or not, “oral culture” and “written culture” are ultimately tangled together, as spoken word and literature act as mutually dependent mediums of communication despite the common misconception that they are separate and unequal.
Works Cited
Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. AA. Knopf. Toronto. 2003. Print.
Courtney MacNeil, “Orality.” The Chicago School of Media Theory. Uchicagoedublogs. 2007. Web. 19 Feb. 2013.http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/orality/
Madrigal, Alexis, “Oral Culture, Literate Culture, Twitter Culture.” The Atlantic. 2011. Web. 17 Jan. 2020. http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/05/oral-culture-literate-culture-twitter-culture/239697/
“Sharing Oral Traditions: Telling the Modern Study of Oral Traditions.” Web. 17 Jan. 2020. http://science.jrank.org/pages/10528/Oral-Traditions-Telling-Sharing-Modern-Study-Oral-Traditions.html
“Totems: The stories they tell.” Government of Canada. Web. 17 Jan. 2020. http://https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1472670112251/1534962082305.
SophieDafesh
January 21, 2020 — 3:30 pm
Hi Lilly,
I found your commentary on orality and its growing interdependency with written culture to be very insightful. In particular, your discussion of alternate forms of writing made me consider examples of it in mass internet culture (the use of emojis and some memes came to mind). I am curious as to what you speculate could be some of the potential outcomes of the growing connection between written and oral culture as created through the internet and social media?
LillyMclellan
January 25, 2020 — 9:39 pm
Hi Sophie! I can imagine that the growing connection between written and oral culture could lead to an increase in the accessibility of knowledge, as has already been seen through the internet. As more people share stories through social media, dialogue between different groups becomes possibles in instances that it may not have before. For example, technology and other alternative forms of writing has allowed increased interactions between various cultures and for the sharing of history and traditions with one another. This is already very apparent in many forms of media, but I believe these interactions will only continue to increase over time as written and oral culture connect.
Looking forward to the semester!
grace owens
January 21, 2020 — 5:57 pm
Hi Lilly,
I thought your ending symbol of the totem pole as being symbolic of the symbiotic relationship between orality and written culture was really interesting. It made me think about the pairing of the two in a new way. It was a really great analogy and representation of the interdependency between the two language cultures.
In your blog post you brought up the platform of social media in terms of being a hybrid between literate and oral culture through Alexis Madrigals article, however it causes me to wonder if the example of Twitter can really be categorized as an oral/literate hybrid? I personally do not think that this post I am writing to you right now could be seen as oral communication, however the idea of Twitter runs on the same platform. I see mediums such as Youtube or even Snapchat videos as a return to oral culture mixed with that of written culture, yet the Twitter angle perplexes me.
I was wondering if you have any thoughts about this yourself and how true the “hybrid” is between orality and literacy through social media, and where oral culture actually comes in to play with a platform such as Twitter?
I look forward to your answer and working with you more this semester!
SamanthaKearleyRenfro
January 22, 2020 — 12:34 am
Hi Lilly,
Great post! I enjoyed reading your perspective on the dichotomy between oral and written cultures, and I too agree that the notion that the two mediums of communication, as you mention, are separate entities is an incorrect view.
Can you think of any specific examples from your personal life that you demonstrate the dependent mediums of oral and written communication? Why do you think Western civilization so quickly assumes that the two mediums are separate and place one above the other? And how can we try to change or redefine this perception?
LillyMclellan
January 25, 2020 — 10:03 pm
Hi Samantha! My mother is Australian and I grew up between the education system there and in Canada, so I was fortunate to learn a bit about the Indigenous culture in both countries. While I am not of Australian-aboriginal descent, our family homes were always decorated with a lot of their traditional art and I was fascinated by it. Reflecting on the paintings now, I can see that they were an ideal example of interdependency between oral and written communication. These often involved what is called “dot painting,” a relatively modern technique that the aboriginal peoples used to document their traditional stories within a contemporary medium. The art centres around iconography and is incredibly beautiful, so I highly recommend checking it out sometime!
I think Western civilization is quick to separate the two “types” of communication because many of us are raised to see a distinction between the complex books that we read and the stories that we are told before bed as children. Further, we are often led to believe that these are the only ways to tell stories, rather than considering alternative forms such as art, architecture, clothing, etc. I think one way to change this is to educate people more on the different forms of story telling and communication, especially because they can be so interesting to learn about!
erikapaterson
February 3, 2020 — 9:49 am
Hi Lily,
A kind reply indeed, thank you. I think the era of Western civilization that was so quick to separate the two “types” of communication were creating an effective tool for moralizing and justifying colonizing acts of violence and theft. Once that narrative imagines all Indigenous cultures as singularly ‘Oral” (which is an absurd notion of how culture works ) and once that narrative determines that these imaginary Oral cultures are ‘primitive,’ well then it is only moral and just to colonize, educate and assimilate (which is an equally absurd notion) … .
Indra Isita
January 22, 2020 — 1:20 am
Hi Lilly,
I really enjoyed reading your post! One of the points that stuck out the most for me was your reference to Chamberlin’s idea that “speaking and listening are considered by many as “simple and natural”. Do you think this has played a role in how oral storytelling has perhaps been under appreciated? I also liked your statement that oral and written culture are “ultimately tangled together.” Do you think in the future, distinctions between “types” of culture and storytelling will disappear altogether?
Thanks!
-Indra Isita
LillyMclellan
January 25, 2020 — 5:37 pm
Hi Indra! I can definitely imagine that people seeing speaking and listening as being “simple and natural” has contributed to the under appreciation of oral storytelling. Seeing this tradition as simple belittles the underlying principles and purposes of the practice, and may have led people to lack respect for the importance of the stories being told over generations within Indigenous communities.
While I think that the distinctions between oral and written culture have become blurred in some cases and are becoming increasingly entangled over time as new ways of storytelling evolve, I do not think that the two will merge completely. There are still many groups that appreciate the distinction, such as different cultural populations throughout the world who continue traditions of oral storytelling, or academic communities who communicate through literature.
Looking forward to learning more about this throughout the semester with you!