Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word

Some academic attention had been paid to oral cultures even prior to the modern awareness of orality resulting from Milman Parry’s (1902-1935) work. For instance, although many early linguists resisted making a formal distinction between written and spoken language, the influential Prague Linguistic Circle (1928-1939) were cognizant of the significant differences. In literature, various scholars from ancient, medieval, and Renaissance eras all drew from oral culture and proverbs in their written works. Also the Romantic Movement of the 18th century placed particular value on folk cultures and the oral cultures of the distant past. By the 20th century, many scholars disputed the prior notion that oral folk culture was merely a remnant of an older, superior literary culture.

For the past two millennia, Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey have been widely touted as the best secular poems in Western culture. Dubbed ‘The Homeric Question’ by 19th century scholars, debate over the identity of Homer, the authorship of the poems attributed to him, and their historicity provides a neat insight into shifting cultural attitudes toward orality through the ages. Homer’s work has consistently been touted as superior to the contemporary poetry of each successive period, but within academic circles this adulation has always been tinged with unease and doubt as to the work’s origins.