Literate Culture Colin Johnson Emily van der Harten Timothy Nelson Molly Elfers

Cuneiform Earliest Form of Writing- Cuneiform 3500 BC by Sumerians in Mesopotamia Latin meaning wedged shapes Pictographic based writing system Other pictographic scripts are Egyptian and Chinese

Phonetic Script Developed 1500 BC by the Semites Adopted and transformed by the Greeks Features of a Phonetic Alphabet: 1. Much simpler than pictographic written language 2. Takes a shorter amount of time to master phonetic language 3. Focuses on sounds more than what an object looks like We use a phonetic alphabet today

Rosetta Stone Carved around 196 BC Discovered by Napoleon’s army in 1799 Written in two different languages, which are Egyptian and Greek, using three different scripts: Hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Greek People could not decipher hieroglyphics when the stone was found Champollion used Greek to decipher what the hieroglyphics were saying

Beowulf  Written around 700 AD  Written in Old English  One of the oldest stories, and certainly most popular, to come out in Old English.  Considered “England’s national epic” even though the setting is in Scandinavia.

Carolingian Manuscripts and Art Emerged under the rule of Charlemagne from about 780 AD to 900 AD Inspired by Old Byzantine style Written in Latin, which was the universal language at the time During his reign the rate of literacy was high After fall of the Roman Empire, literacy rate depleted markedly

Chaucer Ellesmere Manuscripts Produced shortly after 1400 AD Contains the Canterbury Tales Written in middle English cursive script Only a few of the first and second editions have survived into the 21st century

Printing Press Invented by Johannes Gutenberg about 1440 Soon his invention spread all over Europe and everyone was printing Accelerated the speed at which the Renaissance advanced Why is the printing press so wonderful? 1. Information was available to a wider array of people 2. Books didn’t cost as much 3. It created a variety of literature to choose from 4. Not as labor intensive

What Have We Gained? Records  Statements From Individuals  Charters- General Public Letter, ‘all the sons of the Holy Church’ or ‘all the faithful in Christ’  Certificates- Notifications, Wills, or Testimonials  Letters- Addressed and Sent to a Single Residence  Financial Accounts- Balances of Receipts and Expenditure  Legal Records- King’s Court and Notes of Penalties  Legally Binding Documents  Year Books- Dialogue Exchanged In Court Cases  Chronicles- A Record of Past Events  Books- Fiction, Non-Fiction, Religion

What Have We Gained? Historical Events Recorded Archives and Libraries Retrieving Information Oral Traditions and Stories are Recorded Remembrance and preservation of customs Laws and Regulations are written down Don’t Rely on Memory or “Word of Mouth” Reading aloud Writing has a oral quality Hearing impaired are able to read traditionally oral stories

What Have We Gained? Information traveled more quickly and widely With translations anyone can read something from across the world Newspapers, Journals, and Magazines Internet People became more informed once they became literate Philosophy and Governmental ideals were recorded

Losses of Being a Literate Culture Oral culture allowed the speaker to shape the story as he or she chooses. They can focus on certain elements: E.g. Homer and the Iliad Less singing/human interaction Things were structured to be remembered more easily Epic similes and extended comparisons to help imagine characteristics Inflections in tone and voice hard to replicate onto a page Reactions to written things are less visible and open Written words are inert, whereas oral words have more ‘life’

Who Is Literate? (and why…) Medieval Europe Monks, Priests, etc. (members of the Church) - Keepers of the Bible - Translators for the people Aristocracy, members of the court, etc. - They had the time and money Common People (illiterate) Artisans Not much hope for advancement in society Time, money, availability of supplies Literacy is a Technology Mass proficiency based on availability Today Literacy common/looked down upon to be illiterate New kinds of literacy -Computer literacy

Bibliography Clanchy, M.T. From Memory to Written Record. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, Ong, Walter. Orality and Literacy. London and New York: Methuen & Co. Ltd, Fox, Adam. Oral and Literate Culture in England. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Yunis, Harvey. Written Texts and the rise of Literate Culture in Ancient Greece. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Amodio, Mark. Writing the Oral Tradition. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 2004.

Bibliography “Literacy,” 18/10/2006 “Literacy in Culture,” 18/10/2006 “Medieval Life,” 18/10/2006