Secondary Orality

Secondary Orality

Secondary orality is when information is presented orally, but originated in print or some other form. First it is written, second it is spoken. The average viewer may not think about the origins of the information however, so the medium appears to be purely oral in nature. This false portrayal has some effects on the message conveyed. The message appears to be spontaneous and interactive, but it is very controlled. It also has an effect on the actions of the audience, such as a lack of "real" human interaction resulting from feeling that the human need for interaction has already been met through secondary orality.

General introduction/definition

Oral cultures are kept alive by their stories. The stories were kept alive by their use of formulas and rhythms, such as “Once upon a time...” and “happily ever after.” [1] These are cultures that are a rarity now. Only very young children who have not learned literacy, and some remote civilizations, are still truly oral. The formulas and rhythms are still used today, in songs, poetry, and prayers, to help with memorization and flow, but the memorization that used to be required for daily life in oral cultures is now rare and takes more work to achieve.

Ong describes the changes education and learning processes went through in regard to the oral and printed word. Teachers learn and educate by revisiting their knowledge, combining what others have discovered with what they have learned in their lifetime, and finding a way to fit it into the contemporary culture they are endeavoring to enlighten. The way they have done this has changed with the changes in media. This change to the printed word affected the way we learn and relate to one another. The present seems to be abandoning the printed word that education used to be based upon. The new media systems are based on sound, and are mostly oral. Ong gives the examples of radio, television, recording systems, and public speaking. These systems are using a form referred to as Secondary Orality.

Effects on Education

Walter Ong explains that in Plato’s time, education was aural and oral, based on dialogue and discussion. Education in the Middle Ages was based on grammar, rhetoric, and manuscript, but the testing of the knowledge gained was still oral. Ong calls this a “transitional culture, oral-aural at root but scriptural in bent.” Once the printing press arrived, education became isolated and basically abandoned its roots in discussion. [3]  While we are moving away from education based solely on the printed word, it has huge benefits that can not be left behind. This is why Ong believes it will always be a part of our educational system. Some examples he provides of our move away from use of the printed word include more emphasis on the study of linguistics instead of grammar, prevalence of discussion groups, use of brainstorming, and even the environment in which books are read. [3]

Ong relates the timing of the advent of print to the discoveries being made about the world we live in, since they were both based on sight and involved space. (see Time-Space) Now we are moving toward an emphasis on sound and leaving behind the need to change our place in space in order to gain knowledge. This can be done with permanent images as well, such as photography.

Television is one of the sound-based technologies that are changing our culture. It is basically useless without the addition of sound, and has increased the personalization of our society because of its secondary orality. It is helping us return to our ancestors’ roots in orality, bringing back the personal touch and interaction required by an oral society where everything happens in the present and all knowledge depends on the spoken word. [3]

With these changes in the methods of education, adaptations must be made in order to discover the useful and proper way to utilize the new, oral ways of communication and education. Returning to an old way of doing something, without leaving behind the knowledge humans have gained along the way, can be very beneficial. [3]

Theory

Primary oral cultures skillfully utilize sound and the present time. They are spontaneous, rhythmic, formulaic, repetitious, and free. They create a group identity because of the reliance on others required. Knowledge in a primary oral culture is spread by a dialogue between two people, or by a story-teller enlightening a group of people. Secondary orality is what television, radio, and other technologies using sound has brought to our modern society. It also encourages the group mentality, occurs only in the present time, and appears to be spontaneous. Secondary orality, however, is an artificial orality. Television shows, and even the presidential debates, are based on a script. Phrases are constrained by the rules of grammar. It is tailored to appear and sound spontaneous, but this only gives the audience a false sense of orality. Ong would claim that “the old-style oratory coming from primary orality is gone forever.” [5]

Sanders calls the orality on television a false orality. It does not allow the audience to provide a response. The “act” of watching TV actually is a very passive absorption of the content presented. This content can be presented in a way to sway a person’s bias, using the television to promote propaganda. relate to Propaganda article Sanders claims that watching television is damaging to a child’s health. It prevents the development of the limbic system and hinders the ability to imagine situations and solutions. Instead of focusing on the quality of the content on television, Sanders argues that the method by which this content is delivered is the problem. The concept of “boredom” has been eliminated. There is no need for anyone to be bored when they can easily turn on the television set. A child does not have to use his or her imagination if a story is spoon fed to them. [1]

The following video explains one view on how passively receiving messages from television can affect a person.

“The liveness of the Web is a refashioned version of the liveness of broadcast television.” This statement introduces a new idea, that the television is not the end of the discussion over new oralities.  Is this secondary television? The information presented on the internet can be print or video. It could be referred to as secondary literacy and secondary orality. Since it imitates and utilizes many other forms of media, it is a good example of the modern methods of communication: in any way possible. [6]

The Talked Book

Ong discusses the effect of television on printed material. He does not believe it will eliminate books. Just as literacy did not eliminate the need to speak, our new technologies providing new versions of orality will not eliminate the need for the printed word. [4]

Implications For Media Ecology

Some arguments against television and secondary orality claim that true orality is stripped away and that the new technologies can lead to a decreas in literate activities and give a false impression of orality. Without silence, face-to-face time, and chance at dealing with boredom, there could be a whole generation with no capacity to analyze, imagine, or create on their own. The printing press, telegraph, telephone, and railroad all promoted faster modes of communication. These are mediums for media ecologists to study. Their encouragement of a group sense like primary orality is false, and it must be determined what these effects will be, how severe or detrimental their potential, and what should be done about it. Something that was lost with the development of a new medium is sometimes brought back, but with greater effort the second time around. Media ecologists study the new technologies to determine if there is something important that has been lost or forgotten, and if there is a way to reintroduce it without losing any ground. Education of the public may be the key, to move the focus from the effects of the content of television and radio shows to the effects of the method of information transmission.

References

[1] Sanders, Barry. A is for Ox. New York: Vintage Books, 1994.

[3] Ong, Walter. "Wired for Sound." Teaching, Communications, and Technological Culture New York: Macmillan Company, 1954.

[4] Ong, Walter.  "Media Transformation: The Talked Book" from College English, Vol. 34, pp. 405-410, 1972.

[5] Ong, Walter. Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media  from Communication in History. Boston: Pearson, 2007.

[6] Bolter, Jay David & Grusin, Richard.  The World Wide Web from Communication in History. Boston: Pearson, 2007.

Original Author - Robyn Wilson