This portion of Ong's work brought to light the fact that although oral communication has many attributes, it is constantly disappearing. With this disapperance one must respect the value the written language holds.
But what gets lost along the way and who's version should one follow? I think we see this in everything from recollection of history to the telling of current events.
Historians are in a constant battel with what has been written, what artifacts remain and what stories were told in order to understand a village or community. Unfortunately, they are subject to what they are allowed to see by those that have left breadcrumbs behind. What you discover in the end is all that you have been permitted to discover.
The written language arguably becomes an artifact that sustains itself beyond the oral language. However, we risk discarding what is no longer necessary simply out of necessity to absorb new knowledge or data. Yet, a division will continue between oral cultures and those that use writing as their language. Communication is compromised and we all lose something in the end.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Ong 1
Orality, use it or lose it!
In an oral cutlure the oral componenets that define and refine the culture weave status and history into the culture of which it resides. It is a heavy burden for the messanger to be accurate, articulate and purposeful in the message. Or is it? Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the survival of an oral culture is to sustain momentum in the dialogue. As your knowledge continues to change, so must the message and stories to support such an evolution.
As we look at our society today one cant help but be burdened with the role of the listener. In a most recent Presedential Campaign, President Obama used some basic oral skills to get across his message and articulate the "dream". The repitious manner of spreading the simple words of HOPE and YES WE CAN, hypmatized a nation. Hearing the enthusiasm in his voice, the rhetorical messages and the tone were essential to his mantra. In a written society all of these would have simply been lost.
Oral culture have the commitment to pass on the messages that sustain their society and in so doing have the challenge of keeping the message alive and accurate or it will simply float away and be lost forever.
In an oral cutlure the oral componenets that define and refine the culture weave status and history into the culture of which it resides. It is a heavy burden for the messanger to be accurate, articulate and purposeful in the message. Or is it? Perhaps one of the biggest challenges for the survival of an oral culture is to sustain momentum in the dialogue. As your knowledge continues to change, so must the message and stories to support such an evolution.
As we look at our society today one cant help but be burdened with the role of the listener. In a most recent Presedential Campaign, President Obama used some basic oral skills to get across his message and articulate the "dream". The repitious manner of spreading the simple words of HOPE and YES WE CAN, hypmatized a nation. Hearing the enthusiasm in his voice, the rhetorical messages and the tone were essential to his mantra. In a written society all of these would have simply been lost.
Oral culture have the commitment to pass on the messages that sustain their society and in so doing have the challenge of keeping the message alive and accurate or it will simply float away and be lost forever.
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