The term “orality” and related terms (oral-aural communication, oral tradition, oral culture, primary orality, preliterate orality, secondary orality, sound/sight opposition, orality/literacy contrasts, oral residue, oralism) enjoy a certain currency today in literary and cultural studies thanks in large measure to the work of Walter J. Ong, S.J. (1912-2003). Briefly, preliterate orality and primary orality and oral tradition refer to the thought and expression of people before writing systems were invented. Thanks to the work of Ong and others, development of phonetic alphabetic writing and its dissemination is now understood to have involved complex changes in how cultures understand themselves and the objects that constitute them. Because sound is evanescent and leaves no…
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Citation: Farrell, Thomas J.. "Orality, Oral Culture, Print Culture". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 April 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=796, accessed 19 April 2024.]
