Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world
This study contributes to the understanding of communication in antiquity by analysing a few specific references to oral and literate traditions in Hellenistic and Christian texts. In the Graeco-Roman world we find a surprising widespread reticence towards writing, varying from mere indifference to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | Afrikaans |
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AOSIS
1993-01-01
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| Series: | HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| Online Access: | https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/2519 |
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doaj-c116d19445684e049d903e3e4261c5ed |
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Article |
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doaj-c116d19445684e049d903e3e4261c5ed2020-11-25T01:12:14ZafrAOSISHTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 0259-94222072-80501993-01-0149474275910.4102/hts.v49i4.25192196Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman worldP. J.J. Botha0University of South AfricaThis study contributes to the understanding of communication in antiquity by analysing a few specific references to oral and literate traditions in Hellenistic and Christian texts. In the Graeco-Roman world we find a surprising widespread reticence towards writing, varying from mere indifference to active scepticism. The scribal culture of antiquity exhibits a strong bias towards orality, with even literates expressing little confidence in writing. There was a prevailing preference for the ‘living voice’ in education, and a strong belief that corpora of teaching which were never written down, and could not be written down, distinguished the insiders from the outsiders.https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/2519 |
| collection |
DOAJ |
| language |
Afrikaans |
| format |
Article |
| sources |
DOAJ |
| author |
P. J.J. Botha |
| spellingShingle |
P. J.J. Botha Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| author_facet |
P. J.J. Botha |
| author_sort |
P. J.J. Botha |
| title |
Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world |
| title_short |
Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world |
| title_full |
Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world |
| title_fullStr |
Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Living voice and lifeless letters: Reserve towards writing in the Graeco-Roman world |
| title_sort |
living voice and lifeless letters: reserve towards writing in the graeco-roman world |
| publisher |
AOSIS |
| series |
HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies |
| issn |
0259-9422 2072-8050 |
| publishDate |
1993-01-01 |
| description |
This study contributes to the understanding of communication in antiquity by analysing a few specific references to oral and literate traditions in Hellenistic and Christian texts. In the Graeco-Roman world we find a surprising widespread reticence towards writing, varying from mere indifference to active scepticism. The scribal culture of antiquity exhibits a strong bias towards orality, with even literates expressing little confidence in writing. There was a prevailing preference for the ‘living voice’ in education, and a strong belief that corpora of teaching which were never written down, and could not be written down, distinguished the insiders from the outsiders. |
| url |
https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/2519 |
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AT pjjbotha livingvoiceandlifelesslettersreservetowardswritinginthegraecoromanworld |
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