Discussion Post #1: Looking at power and punctuation.

Response to Alberto Manguel's "The Silent Reader."

This reading gives an historical overview of the tradition of reading: in particular, how we went from oral reading to silent reading. Alberto Manguel describes the shift from oral reading in the tradition of ancient Greek and Roman philosophers who read to an audience to the silent reading we now of today. Thanks to the writings of Saint Augustine, Aurelius Ambrose is known as the first “definite instance recorded in Western Literature” of silent reading, and, from Augustine’s reaction, we know that this silent reading was not the norm for the time period. Manguel also goes on to describe how Irish scribes moved away from scriptua continua towards the adoption of word separation, paragraphing and punctuation and how this facilitated the normalizing of silent reading. Furthermore, the article also relays the enormous impact silent reading had on society. Once individuals could silently read religious texts and other texts, there was suddenly room for dissent and individual interpretation. This was a large motivating force for the Protestant Reformation.

However, it is Manguel’s description of the role punctuation played in the transition from oral reading to silent reading that really piqued my interest. I’ve been doing my own research into the punctuation of the Introduction to Language course, and this reading gave me a lot of perspective on the history of reading. For a long time, I either hadn’t put much thought into the origins of punctuation or assumed that the punctuation system we used today was just one that logically evolved alongside text. However, in my reading of this chapter and an article by Naomi S. Baron, “Commas and Canaries” The Role of Punctuation In Speech and Writing,” I now see that the evolution of punctuation has a far more complex story and that story i rooted in the struggle between two perspectives which consider the different functions of oral reading and silent reading: the rhetorical view of punctuation and the grammatical view of punctuation. In the rhetorical view of punctuation, punctuation is used merely as a means of replicating the “oral rendition” of the text (Baron, 2001, p.22). Consideration and placement of punctuation marks were designed to make the reading of the text aloud easier for the reader. Such considerations were first noted in the system used by the librarian of Alexandria, Aristophanes of Byzantium (251?-180? BC). In that system, three marks were used to distinguish the amount of time that should elapse before continuing to the next section. As the system for punctuation developed for the use of silent reading, however, the function of the punctuation began to shift. Soon, punctuation became a means of signaling relationships between syntactic units. I think that shift explains a lot between the disparity of what I was taught about punctuation in K-12 and what I was taught in a prescriptivistic grammar classroom.

 Can you think of any parallels between (1) the transition from oral reading (and composing)  to silent reading (and writing)  and (2)  the modern day transition from print literacy to digital literacy?


In regards to this question, I think the parallel between these two transitions are the de-centralization of power. When silent reading was adopted, the authority and power of religious leaders was threatened because individual citizens had the access to the text that religious leaders claimed dominion over. While print literacy was more readily available than having to pay a scribe to copy a book by hand, digital literacy is even more accessible to the everyday person in a country with decent digital infrastructure. And in much the same way as with silent reading, the power of this access should not be underestimated.

That week's comments:

Response to James' Post

RE: "Learning to Read" & "The Shape of the Book"James,
I wholeheartedly agree with the parellels between e-readers and the various historical forms of books have taken. It's fascinating how consistent humans have been about demanding the the form and function of the book match. I was especially taken with the medical travel-book Dr. Dutschke displayed. It reminded me of the small moleskin I carry arounfd in the summer to sketch with and jot down ideas. The idea that hundreds of years ago, a doctor with his own reference notebook shouldn't be surprising as it was to me.