Saturday, October 2, 2004

Orality and Communications, the short way

Orality and communications is new stuff for me. I'm trying to make sense of the confusion I've launched myself in again with this new McLuhan course. I've been give a bunch of reading materials, about five inches of photocpied materials written by academics several decades ago. (Anybody tried the frustrating task of trying to make sense out of old English?) We're expected to read at least 4-5 'theorists' in 7 days, doesn't matter what else you do in your day to day life. Sigh, the pace of academics. I'm taking shortcuts. I don't know, maybe there're actually long cuts. I google the guys' names and try to read what other people have gisted about what these guys have been thinking about. At least on the net, they use simple English. What's really important for me is to understand the context (social, intellectual, cultural environment) of which these intellectual giants have shaped their thoughts.



Some links that really helped clarify stuff for me, for future references:



Theories of Communication -Wikipedia



Oral History - Wikipedia



"Innis: The Bias of Communications & Monopolies of Power" by Marshall Soules



"Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word" Ong, Methuen



" Towards an Ecology of Understanding:

Semiotics, Medium Theory, and the Uses of Meaning"
by Marc Leverette



"From Orality to Teleliteracy" by Steven Mizrach

No comments: