Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari

Abstract In recent years, beginning with the often-cited article of Goody and Watt (1963), a renewed and growing interest has developed in the study of literacy as a phenomenon of human societies, and strong claims have been made about the cognitive effects of the shift from oral to literate culture...

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Main Author: Ferguson, Charles A
Format: Book Part
Language:unknown
Published: Oxford University PressNew York, NY 1996
Subjects:
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195092905.003.0006
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52226732/isbn-9780195092905-book-part-6.pdf
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spelling croxfordunivpr:10.1093/oso/9780195092905.003.0006 2023-12-31T09:58:41+01:00 Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari Ferguson, Charles A 1996 http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195092905.003.0006 https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52226732/isbn-9780195092905-book-part-6.pdf unknown Oxford University PressNew York, NY Sociolinguistic Perspectives page 69-83 ISBN 9780195092905 9780197722435 book-chapter 1996 croxfordunivpr https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195092905.003.0006 2023-12-06T08:48:27Z Abstract In recent years, beginning with the often-cited article of Goody and Watt (1963), a renewed and growing interest has developed in the study of literacy as a phenomenon of human societies, and strong claims have been made about the cognitive effects of the shift from oral to literate culture (see, e.g., Goody 1977; Ong 1982; but cf. Frake 1983). Although many of the recent literacy studies are ethnographic in perspective (e.g., papers in Goody 1968; Schieffelin and Gilmore 1986), we still have very few descriptive studies of the introduction of literacy into particular nonliterate societies. One such study (Ransom 1945) appeared in the first volume of this journal. In it the anthropologist author attempted to reconstruct and interpret the sequence of events as vernacular literacy was introduced among the Alaskan Aleut by Russian Orthodox missionaries early in the nineteenth century; a valuable follow-up article appeared thirty years later (Black 1977). The present paper attempts a similar reconstruction of the nineteenth century introduction of vernacular literacy among an Australian Aboriginal group by German Lutheran missionaries. It is intended to be sufficiently detailed to suggest useful comparisons with other cases and thus to contribute to the formulation of a better theoretical framework for the study of this kind of cultural change and its implications. Book Part aleut Oxford University Press (via Crossref) 69 83
institution Open Polar
collection Oxford University Press (via Crossref)
op_collection_id croxfordunivpr
language unknown
description Abstract In recent years, beginning with the often-cited article of Goody and Watt (1963), a renewed and growing interest has developed in the study of literacy as a phenomenon of human societies, and strong claims have been made about the cognitive effects of the shift from oral to literate culture (see, e.g., Goody 1977; Ong 1982; but cf. Frake 1983). Although many of the recent literacy studies are ethnographic in perspective (e.g., papers in Goody 1968; Schieffelin and Gilmore 1986), we still have very few descriptive studies of the introduction of literacy into particular nonliterate societies. One such study (Ransom 1945) appeared in the first volume of this journal. In it the anthropologist author attempted to reconstruct and interpret the sequence of events as vernacular literacy was introduced among the Alaskan Aleut by Russian Orthodox missionaries early in the nineteenth century; a valuable follow-up article appeared thirty years later (Black 1977). The present paper attempts a similar reconstruction of the nineteenth century introduction of vernacular literacy among an Australian Aboriginal group by German Lutheran missionaries. It is intended to be sufficiently detailed to suggest useful comparisons with other cases and thus to contribute to the formulation of a better theoretical framework for the study of this kind of cultural change and its implications.
format Book Part
author Ferguson, Charles A
spellingShingle Ferguson, Charles A
Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari
author_facet Ferguson, Charles A
author_sort Ferguson, Charles A
title Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari
title_short Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari
title_full Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari
title_fullStr Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari
title_full_unstemmed Literacy in a Hunting-Gathering Society: The Case of the Diyari
title_sort literacy in a hunting-gathering society: the case of the diyari
publisher Oxford University PressNew York, NY
publishDate 1996
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195092905.003.0006
https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/52226732/isbn-9780195092905-book-part-6.pdf
genre aleut
genre_facet aleut
op_source Sociolinguistic Perspectives
page 69-83
ISBN 9780195092905 9780197722435
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195092905.003.0006
container_start_page 69
op_container_end_page 83
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