Post #1 - Thursday's Word of the Day: Orality

Orality was described in class as a function that does not require logic, whereas writing is the ability to “logically” express abstract thought. However, I see orality as a function that requires as much logic as writing. The process of learning how to speak is acquired at a young age and is simultaneously engraved in our mental processes to the point where verbally expressing thought is done instinctively. Yet attainment of language is achieved through a “critical point” in our development when the human mind is most capable of absorbing the surrounding language. After this crucial time the individual will never accomplish a full command of language, especially grammatical systems. Therefore beyond this “critical period,” such as learning a new language later in life, becomes a function that requires much logic to achieve.

In terms of the “great divide,” Walter Ong argues that writing, as a form of literacy, is essential to the human repertoire because it “separates past from present,” and “separates academic learning from wisdom.” Through this, Ong suggests that orality is inferior to literacy because it enhances our ability to identify historical events and enables us to become wiser; however, I argue that orality and literacy have shared the same level of importance in our society. Firstly, Ong’s proposal that writing “separates past from present” is not entirely true because if you examine written diaries, journals, or even testaments form the past one cannot help but image the past to the point where the reader becomes entrenched in the setting from which those texts were written. In other words, historical texts can be written is such a vivid style that readers can shatter the barrier between the past and the present.

Secondly, the fact that Ong argues writing is necessary to separate academic learning from wisdom seems completely unreasonable because in the past there have been superior societies that thrived on orality instead of literacy. Before the advent of written language and previous to the arrival of literacy, oral tradition was much more of a presence in people’s lives. The Anlo-Ewe people of present day Republic of Ghana, for example, used orality for learning and scholarship through folklore, myths, and songs. In addition, “Griot’s” were West African poets, and wandering musicians that were viewed as repositories for oral traditions since they passed important information to subsequent generations. Prior to the dawn of literacy and written language, orality laid the foundation for myths and folklore's that bequeathed wisdom from one generation to the next. Thus, I see that Ong’s statement which regards writing as the link between academic learning from wisdom as absurd and completely irrational.