Print, Media, and Oral Cultures

The Issue: "Many scholars believe that we have moved
 from living in a “print culture” to living in an
electronic media culture that is in many ways more
similar to an oral culture. They argue that people
now get their most important information from the
'conversations' of radio and TV."

Before we analyze that, lets back up a little bit here.
 At first, humans were certainly an oral culture before
 writing was developed.  After writing, the next great
 mediums were radio, then television, and most recently
 computers.

How long after the inception of writing did it take for
 our culture to move from mostly orally-spread knowledge
 to mostly print-based?  My assertion is this has never
 happened.  In that respect, the issue at hand is a moot
 point.  We still gain the majority of our information
through interpersonal contact, even in this day and age.

From birth to adolescence, it can be easily agreed that
 the vast majority of learning is from oral methods,
as from a parent.  Here the child gets to see and hear
the person speaking, forming a specific technique for
learning.

Have you ever heard the expression "The most important
lessons in life, are learned before the 2nd grade"?
Consider that statement.  What does a 2nd grader know?
He knows how to walk, talk, and play nice with others. 
He'll have a simple understanding of arithmetic,
spelling, games, currency, biology, anatomy, geography
and maybe even some history.  He'll know a little
about *a lot* of stuff, all of which were learned
through oral, person-to-person, methods.

Imagine if the child were forced to learn these
things mostly through print sources. It just wouldn't
happen.  We need our oral culture to allow the use of
print media to even exist. In that respect, we are
still dominantly an oral culture.  These childhood
lessons are the foundation for which our wisdom is built.

~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~

Now, when comparing TV, computer, and radio to print
media, what are the two most striking differences? 
In print, you cannot hear the narrator, nor can you
use your sense of vision to interpret the information
 in anywhere near the capacity that electronic media
grants.  This means your initial passive learning
tactic, watching and listening, does not help when
learning through print.

Here is where electronics enter the picture.  They
allow your childhood mechanic for learning to kick
in again.  The brain is easily fooled by the sight
and sounds on the screen, thinking it is once again
 learning in the original oral-culture fashion.  And,
 for all intents and purposes, the electronic media
 culture is just a way to allow our oral culture to
circumvent the limitations of distance and time. We
can bring a person across the globe to us instantly.
 We can bring a dead speaker back to life for a
private talk.

In conclusion, I feel we've moved from a completely
 oral culture. . . to a culture of largely oral with
 some print. . . to a culture of largely oral and
pseudo-oral (electronic) and some print.  For as
long as oral is necessary from birth for humans,
we'll always use oral methods more than any other.

Preferred vs. Oppositional Reading

Star Wars - Episode III: The Revenge of the Sith

IMDB entry - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121766/

The Video - http://www.megavideo.com/?v=F9INTT5A


Like all good science-fiction prequels released in the Spring of '05, The Revenge of the Sith can be seen from at least two different viewpoints (ignoring negotiated reading). First and foremost, the intentions of the creator to influence your feelings in a particular direction is the preferred reading. In contrast to that, an oppositional reading may instead be used by the consumer of media. Here, the reader decidedly does not agree with the intentions of the media artifact.

For this piece of cinema, the preferred reading is very well known. Hell. It was formulated by the FIVE other Star Wars movies. Throughout the video, our hero, Anakin Skywalker, faces challenges that can be easily related to our own society. The connection drawn between these fictional struggles and the consumer's own life aims to reinforce this preferred reading.

For example, the primary conflict between the Jedi Council and the (soon to be) Intergalactic Empire is akin to the fight for democracy across the expanse of our inhabited universe, Earth. With the long-lasting (and likely deserved) paranoia regarding socialism and communism, Americans are prone to decide in favor of the rebel alliance. I'm sure many of us already see our own Battle for Democracy being just as glorious of a pursuit as intergalactic freedom.

The preferred reading is very apparent, as shown above; however, the oppositional reading for such a clear-cut story is not totally absent. With the nation fearing terrorism so fervently, it must not be forgotten that the heroes in (original) Star Wars are still rebels. Do you think they got the rebellion this far by staging peaceful demonstrations? I don't recall seeing any democracy proponents holding hands to block the death star from destroying Alderan. They must have used guerrilla warfare to make their gains. Any assault would have been instantly crushed under the might of the empire.

Now, remove the preconceptions of good and evil. What remains?

1. We have a ruling body doing all that it can to remain sovereign. Sometimes, the government ignores the human rights of those who would seek to endanger it. In our current culture, we call these people enemy combatants and torture them in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

2. We have a small group of terrorists pushing their own political agenda by any means necessary, including the mass-murder of entire starships of (likely-drafted) soldiers. Today, we call these terrorist groups names like Al-Qaeda or The Islamic Jihad Union.

From the preferred and oppositional readings, we have the conflict of interest. Which is more necessary: total peace or total freedom? Most viewers will agree with George Lucas that freedom is the most important. That is, until the next rebellion uprises, claiming that the current system is corrupt. . .

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