Orality, Spirituality, and Father Walter Ong

In his presentation on Walter Ong, Eric Beard asserts that Ong’s major impact or “legacy” to the field of composition studies lies mainly in the areas of “tracing orality,” the idea of “oral residue,” and in the exploration of spirituality, rhetoric, and pedagogy. In order to support his assertions, Beard begins by developing a framework of an “obsession with orality” by explaining the importance of Ong’s religious roots as an ordained Jesuit priests on his pedagogy, and referring to Ong as a “Consummate Scholar,” who theorized on the purpose of poetry (to “mimic dialogue”) then went on to write his dissertation on sixteenth century theorist Peter Ramus. Beard also presents what he names Ong’s “Foundational ideas:”

· Orality & Literacy
· Rhetoric & Pedagogy
· Rhetoric & Faith
· Western Culture

Beard then offered his audience a video clip of Ong speaking on the cultural changes created by introducing the written word into pre-literate society, arguing that these cultures did not “speak the same once writing [existed].” Ong’s dissertation on Ramus, Ramus, Method and the Decay of Dialogue, details the spread of thought through writing – though he felt Ramus’ thinking was “unoriginal,” Ong claims that this was the time when thinking began to take on a more linear form than was possible in oral, storytelling societies which relied on an unreliable and cyclical “Memoria.”

In The Presence of the Word: Some Prolegomena for Cultural and Religious History, Beard tells us, Ong related “The Word,” with “The Word of God;” though, perhaps, Beard does not go quite far enough in connecting this concept to his explanation of Ong’s four elements or orality: Primary Orality, Writing, Print, and Secondary Orality.

Ong explores the idea of Secondary Orality further in “Orality & Literacy: The Technology of the World,” which was published, surely not coincidentally, in the era in which gave us Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, and the personal computer. Beard states that, though Ong was somewhat “hesitant to speculate” on just how far the new technology could take us, he introduced “sweeping ideas” and explored the concept of “Oral Residue” – the idea that, just as the written word changed oral communication, so orality influences our writing, especially as we become more immersed in technology. He points to the way people are writing in e-mails and other text-based communications, spelling words the way they sound (e.g. “How R U?”).

(Eric) “cast his net widely” as he gave an overview of Ong’s life and contribution. Unfortunately, there was not more than passing mention of the importance of religion and spirituality on Ong’s perspective, yet it is listed as a “Foundational Idea.” It would be interesting to explore the ways theology informs the work of theorists such as Ong and James L. Kinneavy and their overarching “unifying” and “sweeping” philosophies. It was discussed after the presentation that this perspective might cause a theorist to categorize and dig deeper for the “ultimate truth,” but it can also be argued that it was awareness of something bigger than themselves and some greater purpose – that allowed both Ong and Kinneavy to take the broad, encompassing views that continue to shape the twin fields of composition and rhetoric.