1. In a Post-Literate Society
Orality and
Post-Literate Culture
Secondary Orality
In a Post-Literate Society
Copyright © Orville Boyd Jenkins 2000, 2005
Last Updated 3/31/2017

2. Post-Literate. A new generation is riding the crest of a new wave.
Communication formats have changed.
Following the media revolution of the 60’s, the world has changed into a new era that has been termed:
Post-Literate.

3. The West is well into the post-literate information age.
Many emerging countries are likewise rapidly entering the post-literate age.

4. Post-Literate
In the post-literate world, learners have a base of literacy, but their primary means
of learning have shifted back to oral and aural media.

5. This new generation learns and processes in terms of media such as
television (drama, news, music, interactive graphics or text),
radio (music, news, discussion), telephone (often in conjunction with TV or radio),

6. This new generation learns and processes in terms of media such as
computer (which involves basic literacy, but more visuals, graphics and click skills),
etc.

7. In post-literate society,
writing and reading are
still of value, but only as
they facilitate manipulation of other media.

8. The Western linear-type thinker
There are differences in thought format between literate, “linear” thinkers and oral, or postliterate thinkers.
The Western linear-type thinker
has a high cultural value on Factual Knowledge.

9. This affects the priority in learning, planning, and the
The Western linear type thinker has a high cultural value on Factual Knowledge.
This affects the priority in
learning, planning, and the
underlying sense of truth.
Truth is seen as consisting in facts –
Specific descriptive statements about an objective, perceivable reality.

10. Truth is seen as consisting in facts –
Specific descriptive statements about an objective, perceivable reality.
Knowledge is seen as the accumulation of these facts.

11. This dynamic relational concept of truth is called
Oral culture, on the other hand, places priority on relationships, which produces a concept of dynamic truth and not a focus on facts.
This dynamic relational concept of truth is called
Functional Knowledge.

12. This focuses on relational skills.
Oral culture
relationships
dynamic truth
not facts
Functional Knowledge
This focuses on relational skills.
Truth is seen in terms of personal integrity
and fulfilment of relational and family obligations.

13. The non-literate relational thinker
-- with a focus on dynamic truth and functional knowledge –
has a high facility of memory and an active skill of visual association.
This is called
Oral Literacy.

14. The post-literate uses visual skills to process images and activities more than writing skills.
While the post-literate has an
active attitude toward
interactive visual media,
formal skills in traditional
literacy may be weak.

15. The post-literate may not have the high memory capacity of the traditional oral non-literate, due to the lack
of emphasis on memory
power in the broader
dominant literate society.

16. Post-literate technology assumes traditional literacy skills, but the
typical post-literate is a
Passive Literate.
The literacy skills needed for visual dramatic portrayal on TV or a music video, for example, are more for perception than learning or self-expression.

17. Literacy is assumed and even necessary, but is not primary.
It serves as an adjunct
to the event-oriented
dynamic visual world of interactive media.

18. The post-literate tends to favor an oral-aural learning style, which complements this visual event-oriented literacy.
The post-literate places a higher value on relationships and interaction than the traditional literate society, similar to oral cultures.

19. Personal experience is more important than objective fact and established knowledge.
Thus in many ways the post-literate is more similar to the non-literate than is the literate.

20. They process information and make decisions in similar ways.
The learning and communication preferences of the post-literate are similar to those of the non-literate.
They process information and make decisions in similar ways.
Both are far removed from the way a literate person communicates, processes information, and makes decisions.

21. Communication must make sense in the worldview of a culture.
This presents the challenge of
how to get inside the cultural worldview perspective and
how to cast your message in attractive, understandable, meaningful, and acceptable terms.

22. A study of cultures and their communication formats is highly beneficial in knowing how to effectively communicate cross-culturally.

23. In a Post-Literate Society
Orality and
Post-Literate Culture
Secondary Orality
In a Post-Literate Society
end
Copyright © Orville Boyd Jenkins 2000, 2005
Last Updated 3/31/2017