CMNS 110 Chapter Notes - Chapter 16: James Gleick, Oral Literature, First Age
8 Jun 2017
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Document Summary
The persistence of the word - james gleick. To subtract technologies of info internalized over 2 millennia requires leap of imagination backward into forgotten past. Hardest technology to erase from our minds - writing. In 60s & 70s, ong declares electronic age to be new age of orality, but of secondary orality . First age of orality lasted quite long. Ong had misfortune to make visionary assessments of new age just before it actually arrived. When ong began studies, oral literature was common phrase. Oral literature - generally treated as variant of writing. When comes to understanding preliterate past, modern folk - hopelessly automobilized. Written word - mechanism by which we know what we know. Writing, as technology, requires premeditation & special art. Language - not a technology no matter how well developed & efficacious. Writing appeared to draw knowledge away from person & place memories in storage.
