There are three categories of analysis when comparing litaracy and orality:
- modes of production (living)
- modes of legitimization (power structures)
- modes of communication
| Production | Legitimization | Communication | |
| Orality | - gathering, simple living, nomadic - live hand to mouth - little surplus / storage - little need for recording |
- unity of spiritual and temporal authority (chief is a divine figure) | - words, signs, drums, fires |
| Literacy | - switch from nomadic to agriculture - with agriculture, develop surpluses in food - surpluses force a NEED for RECORDING (and need for taxation) - we begin seeing tablets with recorded figures |
- spiritual and temporal authorities are differentiated - literacy distinguishes between sender and receiver of message - differentiation of functions in society: spiritual authority (priests), governing authority (king), etc. - holy books are developed, and thus a need for a custodian for them develops (spiritual expert) / priests and priesthoods - learning institutions and professionals (book caretakers / experts) |
- the PEN becomes the instrument of POWER - rule by the PEN, not the SWORD |
An example: In the Bush / Kerry debate...
Bush was a very effective 'oral' communicator- he spoke using short, emotional statements and was very understandable, and simple. He put things into black & white categories (good vs. evil, etc), and was repetitive.
Kerry debated using more 'literate' communication- his thoughts were much longer and complex, and followed a linear path.