Primary vs. Secondary Oral Cultures

Walter Ong in his essay, “Orality, Literacy, and Modern Media”, introduces us to the concept of having a primary oral culture and a secondary oral culture. He explains that primary oral cultures had no preconceived notions about what writing was or how to use it; instead they focused on sound as a means of communication, which was relevant to their culture. Much emphasis was put on the element of sound since no texts were available, which meant they had nothing to read from. This lead to the usage of mnemonic devices which organized thought processes. By using this new technique, individuals would be prepared for “oral re-occurrence” ( Ong57), for when they needed to refer back to information. “Sound exists only when it is going out of existence” (Ong 52). This idea influenced oral psychodynamics that is, sound in correlation to interior concepts (inside/between). Sound according to Ong, is the main ingredient that is found within structures: thus producing something incredible coming from an interior design. For example, violins create beautiful sounds, but if cement were placed in their interior designs, then the result wouldn’t be so lovely.

Unlike vision where we can only focus on one thing, sound enables us to focus on more than one thing at a time using our auditory senses. Harmony and interior concepts of the human mind became essential for understanding this idea.

There were however, some limitations that came with the primary oral culture which included:

-Restriction of words (no words accessible)

-No available texts (nothing to read)

-Inability to retain the same thoughts (made thinking pointless because you couldn’t refer back to anything)

-No documentation

This eventually paved the way for a new system of communication: the second orality culture. The emergence of the second orality culture came during the advances in technology which included the telephone, radio and television. These new additions to communication were based on print and writing since radio and television programs followed a script. Without writing and print, the manufactures and operations couldn’t be completed. During this secondary stage McLuhan stated that we as a culture had become a “global village” (Ong 54), equipped with groups that consisted of programmatic and self conscious thinking.

After reading this essay, I would have to agree that qualities from the preliterate societies do have preferable concepts that literate societies could use. Today for example, the usage of mnemonic devices can help with memorization skills since it aids in long-term memory improvement. This can be applied especially for those associated with television programs. Mnemonic devices are also positive when it comes to syntax purposes, which is beneficial to all aspects of communication. ( Ex. Order of operations applied to mathematics:PEMDAS).

Another quality from the primary oral culture that can be used for the secondary oral culture is the presence of an audience. Today when the president addresses the nation, he is not doing so directly to an audience; instead he is addressing it through a camera lens with the audience absent. This can be a limitation because the President is unable to connect with the audience by being physically and visibly in their presence. Knowing your audience and connecting with them through eye contact is beneficial for a good speech. The speaker himself had more opportunities to interact with the audience, including being able to answer questions during the primary oral culture, since advances in technology weren’t readily available yet.

Mnemonic devices and audience interactions are two qualities that the secondary oral culture can benefit from which was influenced by the primary oral culture. Nonetheless these qualities and others are the basis for furthering our understanding of communication.

Referenced from: Ong Walter, " Orality, Literacy and Modern Media",Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society, 6th edition. Boston. Pearson, 2010.