Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

Sean Warner. "The Alphabet: An Innovation and its Diffusion." Vetus Testamentum, 30:81-90.

Argues, mainly on sociocultural grounds, against the assumption that the advent of the alphabet brought widespread literacy to Israel. Notes also the probability that "the availability and type of writing materials in Israel had an adverse effect upon its literacy rate" (88).
Area: BI