Talking With Your Hands: The Transition From Oral Society to Scribal Society
Although living in a world without electronics may seem impossible, imagine living in one without electronics and printed text. Heck, how about living with no form of written communication at all. Josh Meyrowitz’s piece, “Media Evolution and Cultural Change”, opens up with a description of the state of Gonja, located in northern Ghana. First recorded by British personnel in the twentieth century, the state of Gonja was known for functioning as an oral rather than a written society. It may come as a surprise to learn that there are still places on Earth where there is a lacking presence of new forms of social interaction. With that being said, I find it imperative to assess the transition from an oral society to the scribal/civilizing phase.
Meyrowitz effectively summarizes four communication and cultural phases of medium theory, starting with traditional oral cultures. He states, “In oral societies, sound and speech dominate as the forms of interaction. The culture’s history, philosophy, and mores must be stored in memory and conveyed orally” (Meyrowitz). The dominant medium of communication this in this era is oral communication; talking, songs, rhyming, musicals, etc. The transitional scribal phase, can be described as the following, “At first, writing is used to record what was previously only spoken” (Meyrowitz). He also mentions how writing systems segregate those who can read and write from those who cannot, establishing a hierarchy, if you will. Additionally, Meyrowitz describes the modern print culture, stating, “The growing availability of printed materials helps to reorganize social structures based on new patterns of shared and unshared communication” (Meyrowitz). Printing also encourages modes of thinking and social interaction, as well as encouraging the experience of words as objects. Lastly, Meyrowitz, summarizes the postmodern global electronic culture, mentioning, “Electronic media, such as radio, television, the computer, the internet, and mobile devices undermine many features of print culture” (Meyrowitz). He also emphasizes how unlike written and printed words, which focus on the importance of ideas, many electronic media highlight feeling, appearance, and mood.
In order to effectively examine the transition from oral society to scribal society, it is important to reference Meyrowitz’s concepts and ideas regarding the state of Gonja. Because this territory functioned as an oral society, there were no written artifacts to contradict past narratives. For example, Meyrowitz references the anecdote of the origin of Gonja’s seven divisional chiefdoms and the seven sons as leaders, which eventually decreased to five chiefdoms and five sons as time progressed because of the memorization-based culture and lack of written artifacts. This definitely presents the notion that a scribal society and written culture established more accurate historical records compared to its predecessor. Another example of memorization in oral societies can be found in James Burke’s short film, Matter of Fact: Printing Transforms Knowledge. During the film, Burke states, “The whole court process was oral. It was the memories that decided what happened in court” (Burke). Meyrowitz continues with the description of oral societies and their culture, emphasizing the incredibly similar cultural experiences and knowledge of members. He even states, “The modern notion of the ‘individual’ as the prime social unit has relatively little chance of developing” (Meyrowitz). This is a place where there are few status distinctions and extreme individual creativity would be a potentially destructive force.
However, as oral societies progressed toward the scribal phase, so did the distinction of classes, creating a hierarchy. The development of writing eventually begins to change the structure of oral societies, segregating those who can read and write from those who can and cannot. As Meyrowitz states, “Different stages of mastery of writing and reading foster different levels of authority” (Meyrowitz). Michael Soha, Professor at the University of New Hampshire, emphasizes in his piece, “Technology and Social Change: Four Major Eras”, that most people were illiterate at the time, but those who could read had different experiences and informational access, enabling the rise of powerful groups like Monarchs of the Catholic Church. On the other hand, the hierarchy was considered “simple” in oral/tribal societies, as the elders were recognized as being wiser and more respected due to their age and abundance of knowledge. According to Soha, “Knowledge was handed down from elders to younger members of the community” (Soha). Everyone had access to the same information, as it was passed orally from generation to generation. In the scribal phase, people who live in the same places begin to know and experience different things. This eventually led to a revolutionary form of communication technology, known as the printing press.
The modern print culture promoted organization and availability. The printing press encourages retreat from the surrounding oral community, bypassing the Catholic Church’s monopoly over direct access to the word of God. This form of communication technology was considered so transformational, as it encouraged modes of thinking and social organization. In the short film, Matter of Fact: Printing Transforms Knowledge, the printing press was seen as a lucrative form of technology, as well, utilizing the money made to brighten up churches and give the Pope indulgence money to build a new St. Peter’s. In oral societies, religion was passed down orally, through songs and rhymes. Only people who studied religion could read and write. There was no real way to preserve the most ancient religions due to the lack of documentation. In turn, the printing press promotes monotheistic religions, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and the writing allows religious doctrine to be more standardized, rather than varying from community to community. Languages eventually emerge, as well. It would be ludicrous for a print shop to print all fourteen Germanic languages, for example. The printing press allowed for a practical and economical situation. This process naturally worked out, leading to the dominance of one or two Germanic dialects instead of fourteen because of mass production. It can be argued that because of the printing press and its mass production of certain languages, it is also responsible for the creation of today’s countries and borders. Clearly, the printing press was a transformational form of communication technology at the time, as it led to the emergence of modern society.
