Oral-Formulaic Theory: Annotated Bibliography

John R. Goody and Ian Watt. "The Consequences of Literacy." Comparative Studies in Society and History, 5:304-45. Rpt. in Literacy in Traditional Societies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 27-68.

Interprets the invention of writing in the ancient Near East as the force that wholly transformed cultural tradition and made the Greek achievement possible. Emphasis on the special pliability of reality in oral as opposed to written cultures: the oral tradition can forget as well as preserve information. Invention of the alphabet seen as an analytical process which determines cultural development. Compare Havelock 1963.
Area: AG, CP