Primary vs. secondary orality
Recent research work ... has deepened our understanding of what I have styled primary orality, the orality of cultures with no knowledge at all of writing, as contrasted with what I have styled secondary orality, the electronic orality of radio and television, which grows out of high-literacy cultures, depending for its invention and operation on the widespread cultivation of writing and reading. (Ong, "Writing Is a Technology that Restructures Thought" 317)
I was a little surprised by Ong's distinction. But when you think about it, radio and television do usually rely heavily on writing to support their "orality"--scripts and teleprompters employ writing to guide the speaker, which happens to relate quite nicely to the way Cicero relied on Tiro's writing to guide his speeches.
Comments
I too thought Ong's analysis of literacy within radio and television was interesting. Helps one gain the mindset of those who work in radio and television, and how the majority of shows rely on the writers.
Posted by: David Cristello | January 30, 2008 2:34 PM