Avoiding the tyranny of the written word

1986 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
Bernard Spolsky
Keyword(s):  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Universal Education ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Correct Reading ◽  
Written Law ◽  
Written Word

Abstract A study of literacy as a social rather than as a personal phenomenon reveals new aspects of its complexity. Looking in particular at Jewish literacy, a distinction is proposed between unmediated and mediated literacy, the latter referring to modes of literacy that continue to require extensive mediation by a teacher long after the initial skill of phonemic decoding of the orthography has been acquired. In the case of the Written Law (the Bible) this situation was maintained by the use of an orthography which did not record vowels or punctuation and by the maintenance of an oral tradition on correct reading in crucial points in the text. In the case of the Oral Law (the Talmud), when it was finally written down, it was recorded in an elliptical style that continued to make the mediation of a teacher necessary. The result in each case is a method of safeguarding transmission without fossilizing content. Even after unmediated literacy had become widespread for other purposes, the effect of the traditions has remained strong. The system of mediated literacy, combined as it is in the Jewish tradition with a strong value for universal education, assures continued interpretation of traditional knowledge.

The irrevocable pedagogical value of the Bible: Liberation transcends technology

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hlulani M. Mdingi
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Written Text ◽  
Black Experience ◽  
Distribution Of Wealth ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Western Values ◽  
Christian Thought ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Gospel Message

The introduction of the Bible in Africa operated on two major frontiers, firstly, the oral tradition of the missionary who possessed both the Gospel message by word and in the written text (gadget). Conversion occurred through oral ‘manipulation’ that includes an oral negation of the native’s history and worldviews. Secondly, the rise of missionary schools opened the door to the reading of the Bible. However, the black experience has revealed that the reading of the Bible by blacks, slaves and the oppressed gave rise to a new world of interpretation and, in some respects, quietened the oral, historical, political and spiritual disturbance of the missionary voice as the vanguard of the colonial master. It is not the gadget or the written word that is in dispute, even in the digital era, but what the Bible says about oppression, poverty, injustice, dehumanisation, equitable distribution of wealth and politics. Through the paradigms of liberative thought, namely, the hermeneutics of the oppressed, this study firstly will acknowledge the creative and existential interpretation of the Bible for particular goals. While laying out a brief history on Eurocentrism as superseding the Gospel. Secondly, the study seeks to look into Western Christian thought as expansion of the Western Empire. Therefore, arguing that shifts and progress under the guise of development maintain western values. Lastly, the study seeks to argue that despite any platform of biblical transmission, orally, the printing press and the electronic platform, the hermeneutical and epistemological pedagogy of the liberationist lens of the Bible persist; liberation transcends technology.Contribution: This research will contribute in the dialogue between faith and technology within the paradigm of liberation theology. The study seeks to centre the pertinent theme of justice and liberation in the Bible as a critical witness that is relevant for the meaning and relevance of the Bible.

Merciful heavens? A question in Aeschylus' Agamemnon

1974 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 100-113 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maurice Pope
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Correct Reading ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Image Position

In discussions of Aeschylus' theology one of the passages most often quoted is the so-called ‘hymn to Zeus’ in the first chorus of the Agamemnon (Ag. 160–83). Fraenkel in his commentary goes so far as to call it ‘the corner-stone not only of this play but of the whole trilogy’. The passage concludes with two lines which in all modern editions are read as a statement, though our oldest manuscript, the Medicean, writes them as a question. Textually the difference is merely one of accent, but the difference of accent carries with it a reversal of meaning. As a statement the lines mean that the gods are something to be grateful for, that there is some χάρις or kindness associated with them. Taken as a question they deny this. Clearly then it is of great importance for the interpretation of Aeschylus to decide which is the correct reading.The lines in question, written without accents, areOur oldest manuscript, M, as I have said, writes ποῦ with an accent. So does our next oldest, the manuscript 468 of the Biblioteca di San Marco, generally known as V. If this reading stems uncorrupted from the time when accents were first applied to the text of Aeschylus and if at that time the oral tradition of the poet's words was not yet dead, then it will not be destitute of authority. But the thread is far too tenuous to bear any weight of proof.Equally there can be no argument from authority on the side of reading the lines as a statement. For though Triclinius and the closely associated manuscript F write που without an accent as an enclitic, this is as likely as not to be due to simple conjecture.

Holiness and Judaism

2018 ◽  
pp. 23-88
Author(s):  
Alan L. Mittleman
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Emile Durkheim ◽  
Rabbinic Judaism ◽  
The Bible ◽  
A Value ◽  
The People ◽  
Sacred And Profane ◽  
The World ◽  
Land Of Israel

This chapter reconstructs the meanings of holiness from representative texts of the Jewish tradition. The discussion is anchored on two claims. First, biblical thought does not divide the world into a neat dualism of sacred and profane. Second, the Bible and subsequent Judaism conceive of holiness in three different ways: holiness sometimes refers to a property, holiness indicates a status, and holiness is a value or project. These three characteristics of holiness are examined in detail using the Bible. The chapter is primarily concerned with the ideas of the holiness of the people of Israel and the holiness of the Land of Israel. It considers the sacred/profane dichotomy by focusing on the views of twentieth-century scholars such as Emile Durkheim, Rudolf Otto, and Mircea Eliade. It also explores holiness and purity as they relate to God before concluding with an analysis of holiness in ancient and medieval rabbinic Judaism.

Receding Dependence on Forests

2021 ◽  
pp. 67-81
Author(s):  
T. Anantha Vijayah
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Traditional Knowledge ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Sacred Spaces ◽  
Belief Structures ◽  
History Of ◽  
Spiritual Tradition

This chapter considers how modernity has affected the livelihood of Paliyar community and how they have been affected by forest dispossession. Whether the weaning away from the forests has been manufactured or part of the systemic exploitation is discernible. The chapter traces the history of the Paliyars, their belief structures, and indigenous knowledge within sacred spaces. The chapter also presents a discussion of the relation between land and spiritual tradition as well as the importance of land to identity, transfer of oral tradition, and indigenous traditional knowledge. Removing the Paliyar from the land continues to erode their tradition, knowledge, and identity.

“The Iron Crucible” and Loci of Religious Contact

2020 ◽  
pp. 162-172
Author(s):  
Clémence Boulouque
Keyword(s):  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Crucial Aspect ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Iron Crucible ◽  
Assimilation Process ◽  
Jewish Religion

Chapter 14 focuses on the meaning and loci of religious encounters in the Bible and in the Jewish tradition, and analyzes the concept of “iron crucible,” the metaphor Benamozegh used for the complexity of religious assimilation. This metaphor, which refers to the Israelites’ sojourn in Egypt, designates a place where identities intermingled and where the Jewish religion was refined through its contact with paganism—but also where, paradoxically, this blending did not preclude a sense of hierarchy in this assimilation process. This concept is a crucial aspect of Benamozegh’s system, whereby the greater the proximity, the greater the tension across religious traditions.

‘Fossil Tradition’ in Stone Implements

Antiquity ◽  
1935 ◽  
Vol 9 (33) ◽  
pp. 74-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Vayson de Pradenne
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Human Knowledge ◽  
Prehistoric Archaeology ◽  
Mode Of Transmission ◽  
Written Word

When one speaks of tradition, that is to say, of the transmission of human knowledge from one generation to another, one implies that there are two methods by which that transmission is effected—the spoken and the written word; thus one draws a distinction between oral and written tradition.Nowadays written tradition alone is of importance; but one recognizes that it has gradually replaced that oral tradition which alone existed, as one supposes, in prehistoric times. We wish here to call attention to yet another mode of transmission which certainly played a part, perhaps even an important part, in the Stone Ages, and disregard of which might in certain instances seriously confuse the study of prehistoric archaeology.

Shifting Conceptions of Oral Tradition in the Nineteenth Century

transversal ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 78-86
Author(s):  
Chanan Gafni
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Jewish Tradition ◽  
Medieval Period ◽  
Modern Times ◽  
Oral Transmission ◽  
Changing Environments ◽  
Jewish Thought ◽  
Jewish Society ◽  
Modern Period

AbstractThe dispute over the nature of the Oral Law in the nineteenth century sheds light on fundamental developments in modern Jewish thought. An attitudinal shift can be discerned in the modern period. If in the medieval period, oral transmission was perceived as preserving the accuracy and authentic meaning of the tradition, in modern times it was described, to the contrary, as a crucial means of adapting Jewish tradition to constantly changing environments and to the demands of each generation. This radical new assumption that the existence of an oral tradition reflected the ability of the halakha to change gave rise to countless arguments: if the writing of a text signifies stagnation, when did Jewish tradition lose its vitality? Who was responsible for thus turning the halakha into a fixed or even, according to some, a lifeless system by writing it down? The article addresses these and similar questions raised by the nineteenth-century Jewish scholars throughout Europe and shows how their answers reflect the governing ideologies of the various camps in Jewish society.

scholarly journals Qur’ans of the Umayyads

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 114-117
Author(s):  
Andrew Rippin
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Good Deal ◽  
Original Text ◽  
History Of ◽  
Written Word

Qur’an manuscripts have attracted a good deal of attention from scholars, especiallyin the wake of the spectacular finds in the Great Mosque in Sanaa in1972. Some might suggest that this attention is superfluous or even reflectiveof a willful ignoring of the significance of the scripture’s oral transmissionand a privileging of the written word over the oral. However, careful studiesof these manuscripts tell us many things, such as early Muslim attitudes towardthe text, that cannot be documented otherwise. In fact, early manuscriptsare the only tangible source about the oral tradition itself. We can also see thatchanges in appearance in early manuscripts provide evidence of the perceptionand role of such copies and that this went through a significant transformation,especially during the Umayyad period (661-750).Studies done by knowledgeable scholars do not aim to establish an “original”text or to find fault with the modern version; rather, they aim to focuson such matters as the history of the Arabic script’s development and howmanuscripts were used. Of course, such early manuscripts also provide evidenceof textual variation, the precise dimensions of which have not alwaysbeen preserved by Muslim tradition. It is worth reiterating, however, that thesevariations are never of such extent that one can doubt the integrity of the textor its doctrinal or legal contents. Overall, the study of early Qur’an manuscriptsis a challenging task, subject to much scholarly speculation and thusdifference of opinion, especially due to the absence of colophons on the availabletexts thought to stem from the Umayyad period. This is generally the resultof the lost first and last pages in such manuscripts, for they are the first tobecome worn and detached and then disappear. Most of those manuscriptsavailable to us today are in a highly fragmented condition.François Déroche is the world’s leading scholar on matters related toQur’an manuscripts. The vast majority of his writing until now has been inFrench; his masterful examination of a single early exemplar, La transmissionécrite du Coran dans les débuts de l’islam, appeared in 2009. Thus many readersto whom his scholarship has not otherwise been accessible will welcomethis book written in English and marketed in a relatively inexpensive paperbackformat. The work originated as a series of four lectures given at the LeidenUniversity Centre for the Study of Islam and Society in 2010. Thoselectures were primarily the result of an extensive use of the resources held inIstanbul’s Turkish and Islamic Arts Museum ...

scholarly journals The dawn of the Somali written word: an analysis of the creation and implementation of the Somali written language

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Warsan Amin
Keyword(s):  
Oral Tradition ◽  
Written Language ◽  
Cultural Tradition ◽  
Oral Poetry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
History Of ◽  
Written Word ◽  
Knowledge Preservation ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
First Time

My major research paper (MRP) is grounded in the history of Somalia’s first orthography implemented in 1972 by President Mohamed Siad Barre. This meant that for the first time Somali history, there would be a written language that mirrored the Somali oral tradition in all its complexity. The nation’s longstanding cultural tradition of oral poetry has both impacted, and been impacted by the implementation of the orthography. Through the use of semi-structured interviews and grounded theory as my method of analysis, the purpose of this MRP is to explore this reciprocal impact between Somalia’s oral tradition and the implementation of the orthography, and also to explore how Somali poetry provides a unique lens into this reciprocal impact. After stating the data, I present the findings in two stages: (a) in the form of short stories that provide insight into the topic from the perceptions and perspectives of each interviewee, and (b) as overarching themes that have emerged from the interviewees collectively. The findings reveal that the colonial period in Somalia gave rise to the necessity of an orthography for the oral Somali language which then introduced a level of cultural anxiety as the oral tradition of knowledge preservation eventually weakened. Nonetheless, although the Somali orthography is now seen first and foremost as a means of knowledge preservation, the Somali culture still demonstrates a deep connection to their oral heritage.

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