on writing and literacy linguistic anthropology. writing systems writing and symbolism… universal...

On Writing and LiteracyLinguistic Anthropology

Writing Systems

• Writing and symbolism…• Universal symbols? Arbitrary symbols?

• What is writing?…• How does writing work?…• Kinds of systems…• Analyzing writing systems…• Developing/having writing…• Literacy and representation…• The ethnography of writing….

What is Writing?

• Graphic representation of language• Recording language by visible marks• Symbols that convey thought• System of storage and retrieval

• Generally considered secondary to speech• Complete vs. partial writing systems• Complete: any and all thoughts and words• Partial: limited in what they can convey.

Khipus• A special case• Tying knots into cords• Calendrical?• Economic?• Historical data?

• May be a full-blown writing system.

What Does it Mean to Have Writing?

• Association with “civilization”• Does an introduced writing system “count?”• The Lahu example

• Learning to read and write• Defining literacy• Using what writing system?

• Defining correctness• Night v. nite

• Writing and representation….

Writing and Representation• Entextualizing speech• Getting words onto paper

• Questions of representation• Rapid speech• Dialectical speech• couahfee; warsh, crick• gonna - goin’ - gon’ - gwine

On Literacy

•What does it mean to be literate?• kinds of literacy: print, map, computer• Defining literacy• Literacy as technology• Literacy as practice•Written records v. oral traditions•Making things “permanent”

Writing vs. Speaking• Literacy and linguistic awareness

•Writing “changes the way we think about language”• The ethnography of reading/writing• How does reading/writing function in a

culture?

Writing vs. Speaking•What kinds of things are read/written?• Letters, cards, lecture notes, PowerPoint

slides

• Ideas about reading/writing•When is handwriting preferred to typing?• And vice versa• Condolence letters, form letters, job

applications.

Literacy and Power• Issues of access•Who should read/write?

• Issues of colonialism• Destroying Mayan writings• Introducing “book authority” in New Guinea

Literacy and Power• Issues of standardization• Dialects and politics

• Issues of reform• Changing spellings• Americanizing English

• Reforming scripts•Nationalism and orthography in Ukraine• Script change in Turkey.

Issues of Power & Preference

• Orality (remember your reading?)

• Is the written form the “standard” form?

•Who provides the “standard”?

•What – ultimately – is language?