Musings

In my Restoration and Eighteenth Century literature class, I've come across some interesting quotes about literacy in terms of the emergence of the novel:

"Trust not your memory, but put all remarkable, notable things you shall meet with in your books sub salva custodia of pen and ink." -The Earl of Argyle, 1661

"A book or manuscript is a surrogate friend, an ornament of the mind and library, an oracle of enduring truths, a property to be possessed, marked, transcribed, and committed to memory."

Reading is "communing silently with an oracular author." 

The Orality of Language:

"...we can never forget enough of our familiar present to reconstitute in our minds any past in its full integrity." 

Ong is talking specifically here about orality versus literacy. He says that "for most literates, to think of words as totally dissociated from writing is simply too arduous a task to undertake." I think this fits in nicely with our discussion of memory; it's a difficult task to live day to day with all our past transgressions in the forefront of our minds, leading us away from (often repeated) mistakes. We're supposed to learn from history and carry our burdens like baggage. 

I see Ong's "orality" as our "memory"; his "literacy" as our "action." Our "familiar present" is action and our "past," void of its "full integrity," is memory. In order to continue in our action and to move forward, we are often unconsciously forced to forget our past: "We have to die to continue living."