Walter Ong’s Orality & Literacy

In Orality & Literacy, Walter Ong examines the history of oral culture, the evolution of literate societies, and how understanding both cultural backgrounds shows the influence of how they shaped human consciousness and comprehension throughout time. As a reader, this was especially interesting in how previous age-old arguments – is one form of communication more artistic then the other? What is the best way to learn? – is revisited over and over. In reading Ong’s analysis, a reader can apply these thought processes to technology and culture. For example, a modern day question that plagues scholars about the increasing tide of technology used in our everyday lives: Does technology degrade our interpersonal communication?

The differences in learning between oral culture and literate cultures were quite vast. Words equal power in oral cultures. Interaction among a community fostered a collective bond that helped keep knowledge alive and passed on word-by-word to the next generation. As a result, spoken language blossomed and in some cases, produced classic stories that are still told today; for example, Homer’s Odyssey and the Illiad are now acknowledged by academics to originate from Greece’s period of oral culture. Oral culture measured memory recall through endless repetition, formulaic phrases/expressions that allowed individuals to retain complex information. Stories were recalled through a person’s association with events, actions, and involvement with their communities rather then in literate cultures where an individual recalls knowledge from a text source.

In some ways, the advent of writing provoked anxiety among ancient traditionalists who preferred oral culture and its spoken word traditions. Socrates argued that the act of writing removed the individual from their actions and denied the audience from reacting to their statements in person. However, while Ong stated in 1982 that people applied that same argument against computers – let’s face it, the advent of the Internet and social networking have transformed that one-way relationship. Now, whether on blogs, social networking sites like Facebook, or in online news-voting portals like Digg, people can interact, comment, and provide nearly instant feedback to each other’s commentary. The Internet provides multiple channels of dialogue – whether you choose to leave a note on a blog, create a podcast, or tweet your reaction on Twitter. On YouTube, people are providing video comments and teaching each other with video tutorials that touch on Ong’s feedback about learning in oral cultures.

On a multicultural perspective, I found Ong’s summary of the academic study development of oral culture, how scholars overcame cultural/racial biases with new discoveries, and the global commonalities of oral culture to be fascinating. For example, cultures that are still rooted and influenced by oral learning exist in the Middle East, parts of Africa, and in North America’s indigenous tribes.

In the end, Ong’s distinction is that writing cannot exist without oral speech whereas the long-term preservation of oral culture cannot exist without written documentation by scholars and archivists. Technology can be a bridge to help preserve that. Not only that but intuitive technology (like the iPhone interface, touch-screen gaming, Nintendo Wii) is reactionary to wordy, overly technical interfaces that required a textbook to read in order to operate. In some ways, technology designers are open to elements of oral culture that make learning more accessible to individuals wanting more active engagement with technology. Just as an example, play Wii Fit. You will interact with a virtual avatar to learn new skills and fitness techniques.