Diebert

WOW! The longest reading thus far! I must say that this particular reading contained a mass of information...lots of note taking. Though interesting, I was surprised to learn that written communication transpired by way of the Church. However, I am not surprised that their dominance in the communications environment had gradually pulled them away from the practices of Church and more towards bureaucracy. “Their juristic education and bureaucratic experience did not tell them how to cope with the emotional religiosity and heretical inclinations of the urban communications.” Being that the Church is an entity designed to spread the word of gospel and a sanctuary of praise and spiritual bliss, its diminished power of written communication and thus its attempt transformation to a corporation verify that absolute dominion over civilization, or operating for profit, is not suited for a place of worship. There were some strange beliefs and practices revealed in the text such as letters themselves possessing a kind of Holy majestic power. Believers during that time wore pieces of parchment with letters inscribed on them for medicinal purposes. The thought of bestowing that kind of power and praise upon random letters sounds a little outlandish but I actually found it to be moreso fascinating than anything else. If you really think about it, words are said to be powerful, but what makes up the words….letters.

….moving on

As epitomized in my previous blogs, it’s no surprise that I apparently have an extreme fascination with technology and get a kick out of comparing it to the readings. Thus, it would be out of the norm to not, in some way, find something in the reading to correlate with today’s topmost method of communicating.

Let’s start with a quote from the reading…

“The printing press did not arrive on the European scene like a flash in the dark, but was the product of slow, converging social pressures for more efficient communications.” ----a statement that captured my interest early on in the reading, I thought it to be an appropriate parallel to a portion of our discussion in class relating technology with culture. From my understanding of the diagram that was drawn and the discussion, the two elements are directly correlated to one another. As we all know, technology emerged as a result of cultural change. It represents a progression or advancement in our way of living; it innovatively and resourcefully exposes our intelligence and our knack in manipulating and improving things for no particular reason except for mere amusement. But, nonetheless, technology has become somewhat of a byproduct of converging social pressures for more efficient communications. It began as something new and useful as a means of making life less arduous and more entertaining. It provided a more efficient way of keeping people connected with one another as well as a more competent way to obtain information. But as time went on and new technologies emerged along with the new augmented versions of them, it became more of an obsession.

This brings me to one of the questions on our handout,

The press led to fundamental changes in human psychology and social structuring. Do new technologies do this as well? How?

If you haven’t guessed already, my answer is yes. Technology has structured our way of thinking and behaving. I think how is pretty evident especially among college students. Not only has the internet (Google…and maybe others) took the place of going to the library, but I don’t know how many times people have had an epiphany of cell phones taking the place of the personal phonebooks or just simply memorizing phone numbers. How many times have your contacts mysteriously or accidentally gotten erased and you thought you were going to die??

Darn Print Revolution!

This week’s reading was quite, well, different. Trithemius’s idealistic approach really captured my attention. I was actually sort of fond of it. It’s a very powerful tactic to use a Holy entity as an incentive to coerce others into sharing similar beliefs. Of course I wasn’t at all convinced, in fact I thought it was nonsense, but I certainly can see how people during that time were swayed by it. However, the discussion in class stimulated more enlightenment to the context of Trithemius’ treatise, for example the idea of spending every moment of the day hand-copying. It sounds more like torment than anything else. Nonetheless, Trithemius’s motive (the introduction of “supposedly superior technology”) provoked another thought that is in relation to the superiority of technology but more so pertains to…well, now.

My mom and I made a much needed trip to the almighty Meijers today. I really wanted to go to Meijers because I had to return a DVD I had rented. Yup, I said I had to return a DVD I had rented at Meijers. The invention, and must I add, brilliant invention, of DVD kiosks makes it possible for movie buffs, such as myself, to rent DVDs from locations other than video stores. Did I mention how much cheaper it is to rent at these kiosks?? Well, my mom made a comment of how some of these “practical” inventions, or shall I say discoveries, are so revolutionary that now her generation, or the period in which she grew up, is seen as prehistoric (I must mention that my mom is a dazzling 57). I thought it was pretty funny.

There is always hype about the advancement of technology and there is always a discovery of ways to create a more comfortable or “practical” way of living. Landlines are slowly making its way on the prehistoric list right under typewriters, television antennas, and in most households, VHS tapes and VCRs, cassette tapes, and………maybe books :-O (nooooo)! My mom is still in awe of how television watchers were forced to turn in their antennas. I mean it is mind boggling but come on…we kind of seen that coming. Anywho, I’m sure there are many enjoyers that would love to muster up a treatise in regards to any of the items on the prehistoric list, but truth is we don’t have time, we’re too busy fumbling around with TiVo or trying to figure out how to add a Facebook app to this “new and improved” touch screen cell phone. Plus, what would be the purpose? At this point we’re pretty certain that there will always be hype about the advancement of technology and there will always be a discovery to create more comfort or a more “practical” way of living.

Put it in writing

It was a little enthralling to interpret some scholar’s philosophy on where writing originated from and how it came about. I read Alexander Marshack’s “The Art and Symbols of Ice Age Man.” Firstly, I thought the first sentence, “Prehistory is mute,” to be unquestionably true and a great beginning for this ongoing study of the origin of writing. Having taken history classes, I remember being taught that in early prehistoric times Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons were the first beings on Earth, and that they communicated by using objects and carvings. Theoretically, their way of communicating inaugurated the onset of language. However, what I gathered from Marshack’s analysis is that there really isn’t any hard evidence confirming this declaration. While archeologists continue to stumble upon artifacts and strenuously study them, the only thing deciphered is theories. Nevertheless, Marshack makes a good argument in regards to the Neanderthal’s carvings. As a contest to them being deemed as a product of “doodling,” quoting directly from the second page of the read, “A baby can babble, but babbling does not lead to speech unless it develops in a culture that uses speech. Similarly, without a cultural context, doodling does not lead to art.” In my opinion, this is a very legitimate statement. Habits, behavior, one’s lifestyle, however you describe it, are all developed by way of cultural traditions. Thus, the supposition of Neanderthals doodling seems as if the way these seemingly natural tendencies are developed is being overlooked. Taking language for example, since we’re on the subject, the use of “ebonics” or “slang” isn’t something that is necessarily taught. Regardless of it being possible, I doubt it if someone deliberately teaches their child to say “ain’t” as a word that should be integrated into their regular vocabulary. Wouldn’t you agree??

Moving on…

So, who began writing, or more importantly, why was it developed?? The title says it all, “Many Theories, Few Answers.” After reading this article I’m curious to know why it was developed too, but to my disappointment, the answers to those questions remain unknown. Suffice it to say the answers can’t be determined?? As amusing as it is to heed scholar’s interpretations and analysis of archeologist’s finds, based on this article, the answers are just simply unobtainable. Nonetheless, the article ended with a quote by Dr. Michalowski, “… I say coercion and control were early writing's first important purpose, a new way to control how people live." I couldn’t help but think hmmmm, doesn’t that sound familiar? This new form of communication, you know, cellular phones, just out of curiosity, wouldn’t you say this is a new way to control how people live??

an oral culture

I found this weeks readings particularly interesting. I actually liked the vulgarity of what I thought were children tales; it complies to the reality of things as well as graphically reveal what these people were subjected to during that time. It's very true that the storytellers "portrayed a world of raw and naked brutality." However, some of the versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" took me by surprise and were rather disturbing. Nonetheless, these readings, for me, created a whole new perspective of folktales and to the oral tradition in general. The connection between the readings were quite fascinating as well, particularly with how completely different cultures created very similar ways of coping with their lives. In class, a question was raised "Do we live in an oral culture?" I immediately began thinking about how much print culture has emerged and how much technology has advanced to where our culture are becoming more and more reliant on it. Thus, my initial reaction was "not really" or as another student said "not exclusively." As discussed in class, our culture is not really fit to practice the same oral traditions that were practiced during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. These were people that underwent serious hardships that are just not likely to happen now. However, during our discussion in class, I remembered how my father would recite some riddles he grew up with that helped better his indigent living conditions. One such riddle goes,

Beans, Beans, they are good for your heart.
The more you eat, the more you fart.
The more you fart, the better you feel.
so eat them bean with every meal.

The riddle came about because my father and his family pretty much grew up on well, beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, navy beans, lima beans, green beans...all kinds of beans. As my father would tell me, my grandmother would cook a hefty amount of beans, enough to last the whole family of 6 an entire week. Surprisingly, my father still enjoys beans and every he or I would fix them, he would recite that riddle.

So, all in all, learning about folktales and how they came about, and thinking about them in relation to today's traditions, it really puts into perspective how much our culture has changed. The original folktales are fun to learn about, and in some cases read and even see on television, but as discussed in class, our culture has graduated to another kind of orality, one that is more fitting for the present time. Now I'm curious to know how it will change in the future...

Writing is turning one's worst moments into money - J. P. Donleavy

a little about myself. i currently attend wayne state university. i anticipate graduation this december yay!!!!!!! im a creative writer with all kinds of ideas and projects underway. i will be posting some of my short stories so stayed tuned. {comments are always welcome} as of right now i am looking for universities to attend for graduate school. its taking a lot longer than i anticipated. turns out theres more to just choosing a school {lol}. u have to consider location, if there are going to jobs available in that location, finances....bunch of stuff. but i'm figuring it all out.

through the journey as an undergrad, there were so many things i've encountered myself and have witnessed that is like "wow!" life is definitely a relentless test to see who survives. it sort of hit....well punched me in the face my freshman year of college away from home. it was definitely an eye-opener. the short stories i post reflect my journey through the first years of un-sheltered "real" life! they are enjoyable and some are funny, but all are interesting. nonetheless, that is my opinion and i would love to know yours so feel free to drop a line anytime!!!

til next time,

kelz*