The Presence of Word by Ong
The presence of the word is a book written by Walter J. Ong which was published in the year 1967. In the book, it talks about some prolegomena of religious and cultural history. The study brings a different of oral and literacy and social culture implication in today’s day and age. The presence of the word investigates the nature and history of the declaration that argues in manifesting power and personal presence. Ong term of presence of word is to analyst the development of verbal. Through the transfer of the visual word from the oral sources to that shows the dilemma of a human being word. This paper will focus on the great five ideas in the presence of word by Ong and the correlation to the real life situation.
Basing on the culture as the first great idea of the book of presence of word by Ong, it investigates the enormous variation between the literature and oral culture. In the book of Presence of the word, Ong defines oral literature as the inability to represent heritage verbally in our minds that are organized in materials as a variant of writing. On the other hand, he delineates oral culture as a book where people do not know each other with writing. It is possible to take a broad view of primary oral culture that regards to psychodynamics. In instances of preserving the addictive of oral style in the oral of creation narrative, it recognizes verbal patterning. The culture produces a still massive of oral residue that makes addictive to keep close in many ways. To show a relationship to real life situation, the society is completely committed to printing and writing which shows the relation to orality of the literacy (Ong 112).
Oral societies invest great energy from an oral culture that conceptualizes knowledge that does not require vanishes repetition. Oral culture is learned arduously over the ages which establish high conservation. With the upkeep of the traditionalist, it helps the mind to set a good inhibits that brings a reasonable intellectual experimentation. To preserve the oral culture, it requires specializing wise old men and women. By the downgrade print, old men and women who are wise can repeat the past for young generation to discover something new. With the preservation course, it gives one amount of memorization of the culture that leaves a requirement of education. In correlation to ideas of today’s day and age, it depends on the writing of the structure which is verbalized to the knowledge. Put into words it assimilates human being life world by objects interaction of a human being from the information that is conserved. For instance, in the political division, it brings a conceptual of information that was preserved in early ages by wise old politicians which make the oral culture to be neutral (“Goody” 13-14).
About the economic as the second great idea in the presence of the word book, the culture is likely to strike technology. Rhetoric practices its styles the verb motor off too much speech where business are in primary oral culture. Simply, financially viable presumes technology culture to be the nature of the things. Antecedents are complex in the writing because not all scripts trace back directly or indirectly. Transaction of economic was recorded with use of small clay token encased. It shows the indentation that represents the coupon inside the hollow. The pictogram symbolizes of bullae which were cow and ewes among others clay artifacts. In comparison to the current situation, economic is practiced technologically. Today’s society values technology in financial recording. Though today society value monetary just like ancient days, they cannot work efficiently without the skill of technology which was not valued in the most important oral culture (“Schmandt-Besserat” 50-59).
Oral economic are verifiable to the resulting in the radically judicial procedure which is minimal. The minimum of the process is due to the inaccessible consciousness of the fuller part. It makes the truth to remains flexible which are easy to remember. The oral economy matters from the past without considering the current relevance of the oblivion. By supportable, it is a customary law to keep the fact which is to be used in investable. In the correlation into the real current situation, individuals view oral culture to tell literacy that is highly formed. It shows the fact that information is functionally verifiable as compared to the primarily oral culture (”Clancy” 233).
Religious is the third great idea of the book. Religious practices are the deep-seated beliefs in the oral culture. The credence brings a change in oral culture to the cosmologies. Place of pilgrimage is a seldom where novelty are presented to fight the traditions of the ancestors. Shrines were represented as holy places where ancestors offer their sacrifice to God. Shrines are where the ancestor makes practices to the result of the cult in order to cure infrequent vigorous leaders. Shrines change the oral cultural into the originality which brings formulaic and thematic necessarily. With a show of a relationship in today’s day and age, society uses holy places to worship. In additional, sacred places such as the church is where most individuals present the thanksgiving to God (‘Havelock” 176).
In the traditional oral culture, religious is related in a special way to the sacral. The force concerns in interiorizing the existence of religious which make it be related in a special way. The ceremonial and devotional life were functioning integrally that spoken into religious word function. Traditional shows high values of the religious not only by shrines but also by sacral. The Later world would mostly a sacred development of sacral attachment which was written into the word. In the correlation to the current day and ages, Christians are the example of liturgical service in the religious. God communicates with individual in term of speak and not by writing. A good example is an instance of the bible in (Luke 4:16) where Jesus left nothing writing despite the fact that he could write and read (Ong 176-191).
Oral memory is the forth great idea of Ong in the presence of the word. Narrative and Literacy is one of the genres that affect the shift from orality. Genus receives the most attention in an oral culture. Consequently, story produces a primarily oral culture that is hard to manage the knowledge in elaborating information scientifically. Storyline serves storage of information for easy remembrance. The use of flat structure rhapsodizes the link between the plot structure and episode. Good interaction with the audience makes a culture to follows oral narrative elements that make easier remembrance. In the correlation with the real life situation, presenters also use the component of oral narrative in memory. This that oral culture are value even in today’s life with attention paid on the genre (“Peabody” 216).
The fifth great idea is political in the book of Ong. In the ancient time, winners of the state are more likely to survive as it is compared to the loser. Oral culture allows disturbing part of the past to be forgotten by presenting continuing exigencies. Traditional values oral narrative for the reason that skills are to adjust to a new audience. Oral culture helps in encourages triumphalism in the recitation compliment. Regarding real life situation, politician wins and other lose. It does not mean that but the country will not move forward, but it will still work. When politicians win the politics, they will cooperate and find a way to bring changes in the society (“Okpewho” 248)
Briefly, the press of the world is the book that talks about oral cultural relating them to the real current situation. The paper focuses on the five great ideas in the book presence of the word by Ong. Cultural is one of the concept in the paper that represent own minds heritage. Economic is the second great thought in the book that strikes the technology in monetary. The third vast notion is religious which argues of the individuals' beliefs. Oral memory is the forth enormous thinking that base on the remembrance of oral narratives. The last immense initiative is political that is about leading the society making the social order to follow the rules and regulations.
Work Cited
Havelock, Eric A. The presence of the Presence of the Word by Ong Preface to Plato (Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press). (1963):176
Okpewho, Isidore.. The presence of the Presence of the Word by Ong: The Epic in Africa: Toward a Poetics of the Oral Performance (New York: Columbia University Press). (1979):248
Ong, Walter J. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. London: Methuen, pp. (1982):112
Ong, Walter J. Orality and Literacy: The Technologizing of the Word. London: Methuen, (1982):176-91
Peabody, Berkley. The presence of the Presence of the Word by Ong: A Study in the Technique of Ancient Greek Oral Composition as Seen Principally through Hesiod’s Works and Days (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press). (1975):216
Schmandt-Besserat, Denise. The presence of the Presence of the Word by Ong: The earliest precursor of writing’, Scientific American, (1978):238, 50–9.
