Assignment 1:3
- 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.
Without even thinking about it, through our daily lives, we constantly create, rephrase and change stories that we hear or read about. According to our emotions, mood, and wellbeing, the words that come out of our mouths will change the tone of the orally transmitted story to the recipient. At times, it becomes more exaggerated, or even less, depending on our personal bias and opinion. Prior to reading Chamberlain’s work IF THIS IS YOUR LAND, WHERE ARE YOUR STORIES as well as MacNeil’s article Orality, I have to admit that I also supported the false dichotomy between the separation of oral and written cultures because I merely thought on small communities opposed to larger populations that eventually blossom into beautiful cultures.
The moment I dwelled into this lesson, I couldn’t help but think about the book Fahrenheit 451. For those have never read this book or watched the movie, it is about a world where all books are abolished, where firefighters work to burn and destroy books. It is a world where written communication is something from the past and information is transmitted mostly verbally. While reading this book, I often wondered how living in this kind of world would be like. Just like how we judge the world the narrator is living in, Chamberlain disapproves of this kind of culture as they tend to look down on others and consider themselves superior. In his book, Chamberlain immediately points out the fact that while oral cultures are more praised for their “naturalness and naiveté”, it is actually far easier to recall memories through written words (Chamberlain, 18). As difficult as it is to imagine the world of Fahrenheit 451, it is also impossible to think about the opposite. It is difficult to think about living in a world where there is no form of speech, whether it is verbal or through sign language. Chamberlain suggests through his work that both are used simultaneously where cultures cannot easily be distinguished as one or the other.
Likewise, MacNeil outlines that the division between both written and oral culture exist to simplify the break down of culture. By arguing the flaws of the definition of the word “orality”, as given by Oxford English Dictionary, MacNeil points out that both ways of communication are presented as competitors where one will be considered superior to the other. To accurately learn about culture, we must distinguish between them, not as competitors, but as two likewise significant components. Chamberlin highlights the “us” versus “them” mentality and compares it to us separating “orality” from “written”. While many countries in the world begin with speech, they develop into cultures through the written works that become laws and regulations. Without one another, culture would not be able to be preserved, just like how Canada “was built upon a story.”
Works Cited
Chamberlin, J. Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are your stories? Finding Common Ground. Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 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/
Nytimes.com. (2019). Why ‘Fahrenheit 451’ Is the Book for Our Social Media Age. [online] Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/books/review/fahrenheit-451-ray-bradbury.html [Accessed 18 Jan. 2019].