In my area, the epic is unquestionably from oral origins - from epos - but the
bardic traditon of poetry is absolutly different from everyday speech. Homer, rest
assure, did not 'speak' Illiad, but recited a pre-composed verse. It's crucial to
remember that he didn't 'make up' his verse on the spot, but composed (in his mind)
memorised and rehearsed the poems in his 'workshop' in the shade of the olive-trees
over-looking the meditereanian with a lyre in his hand (or something to that effect)
BEFORE appearing at religious ceremonies and reciting the verse. A compostion by an
author (on the paper or in the mind, on a stone tablet or on the computer screen) is
NOT spontaneous speech. For me, the problem with people like Levi-Strause who
think 'writing' is an un-natural secondary invention of evil civilisations is
exactly that; in cultures where the oral tradtions are dominant, writing takes place
in the minds of the authors. Instead of journals, the poems are published and passed
on through performances in a temple, around the fire, etc(a much better medium, if
you asked me).
My conclusion is that speech and writing can NOT be binary opposits. If anything we
can look at 'composition' and 'speech', but writing is a medium for composing and on
its own its oppoist is probably 'voice'.
Ali
---- Original Message ----
From: Robin Hamilton
Date: Fri 3/30/01 23:24
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: speech and writing
From: "chris jones" <[log in to unmask]>
"
Perhaps we can let the obvious bleed and bleed all over the place until one
must even question the basis of the formal distinction between speech and
writing, langue and parole.
"
Uh ... Surely (unless I've completely misunderstood his students' reports)
Saussure's langue/parole distinction was between the language system
(langue) and the linguistic act (parole). Saussure (again, by report)
couched this in terms of language system vs. speech [sic] act, but was
surely NOT making a distinction between speech and writing, but between
system (whether written or spoken) and utterance. I suspect he'd have been
less than enthused by Derrida prioritising writing over speech.
Still, nice to find the Edinburgh Maoist being burke&hared -- come back
Categories of the Theory of Grammar, all is to be forgiven.
Robin Hamilton
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