Literacy and Culture: Ong I

It's easy to forget that writing has not always been in use. It's easy to read history about civilizations and cultures that communicated with primary orality. . . and read the history as though it were a fairy-tale-esque story of some far off land.

We don't need to be told the stories of the early civilizations of Mesopotamia by our elders-- we read the history. And we believe what we read.

The current American majority grows-up learning how to read and write with the goal of eventually incorporating these functions into every day tasks with ease. Our culture requires this. And to achieve this goal, we must engage in "study" an activity that we have built entire infrastructures around by necessity. But not every culture thrives off of literacy.

In Orality and Literacy, author Walter Ong brings to light the concept that, "Human beings in primary oral cultures, those untouched by writing in any form, learn a great deal and possess and practice great wisdom, but they do not 'study'" (pg. 8-9). According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, to study literally means to be in a "state of contemplation". In fact, the dictionary goes on further to note that the word study can also mean "a building or room devoted to study or literary pursuits". By this particular cultural definition, a literate culture not only creates such a concept as 'study' by which to absorb written materials, but also assigns actual geographical spaces in which this activity should be carried out. These brief definitions only begin to hint at how deeply engrained literacy is in literate societies. Everything from thought processes, learning styles, building structures, community interactions and social norms are touched-- not to mention countless other avenues of every day living. How does this compare with the "untouched" cultures that Ong speaks of?

He elaborates on the fact that these cultures left untouched by literacy learn through "apprenticeship. . .discipleship. . .assimilation. . .[and] participation-- not by study in the strict sense" (pg. 9). There is no expectation to see any such room set aside for the purpose of studying. A culture based on orality functions free of writing. Is this meant to be an easily comprehensible concept to an individual from a literate society? Ong thinks not. He states, "Fully literate persons can only with great difficulty imagine what a primary oral culture is like. . .a culture with no knowledge whatsoever of writing or even of the possibility of writing."

Since it's easy for individuals of a literate culture to take writing for granted, great care must be taken to absorb and study the information on primary orality without trying to fit it into the confines of literacy; rather, understand it as a separate entity-- and then begin to see how orality and literacy compare.