RT list: oral vs literate cultures

From: Husain Qutbuddin (husain.qutbuddin@uscnet.com)
Date: Wed Sep 29 2004 - 19:58:51 GMT

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    Hello all,

    I was wondering if there are any works that have examined the applicability of RT on the communication of oral cultures as opposed to literate cultures. By 'oral cultures' I mean cultures which do not have a written form of the language they speak. Many of these cultures have been shown to have distinct thought processes when compared to literate cultures. For example, speech of people in oral cultures (e.g. early Arabic) revolves around formulaic mnemonic repeated utterances (for easy remembrance), whereas in literate cultures this is not the case. For a more elaborate definition of this look at: Walter J. Ong, Orality and Literacy: Technologizing of the Word (London: Methuen, 1982), particulary chapters 1 and 2.

    I will appreciate any references to works that have examined this particular aspect of cultures in terms of RT.

    Thanks.
    Sincerely,
    Husain

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