CMNS 110 Lecture 4: Mod 4

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Communication
• Course: CMNS 110
• Professor: Gary Mc Carron

Document Summary

Mod 4 issues in history of communication: the question of orality. Differences b/t primarily oral and literate cultures: how we are presented w/ info will shape the way we receive it. John stuart mill: speech has the power to inflame the passions in a way writing cannot: arouse ppl to take actions. I(cid:373)(cid:373)edia(cid:272)(cid:455) that te(cid:374)ds to (cid:271)(cid:455)pass liste(cid:374)er"s (cid:272)og(cid:374)iti(cid:448)e filters (pri(cid:374)t slo(cid:449), deli(cid:271)erate, reflective: distinction how each affects the way audiences process info, mill: a great difference b/t orality and literacy is in their emotional power, e(cid:454). Ho(cid:373)er"s iliad intended as oral text but written down years later: 2 distinct modes of communicating story, hybrid text shifts back and forth b/t a writerly quality + repetitive poetic qualities of oral culture. Role of memory in oral societies: no exosmotic (outside of brain) storage for info, prodigious memories developed out of necessity, mnemonics: devices/ tricks used to aid memory (repetition, formulas, rhythm + rhyme, homologies *things that sound alike), alliteration)