Writing in a New Way

Parry's demonstration that what had been assumed to be a literary creation was actually an oral epoc made writing visible in a new way. Literacy had been virtually a synonym for civilization, and because it was taken for granted its particular features were not noticed. The discovery that this supreme masterpiece had been created and transmitted by guilds of illiterate singers put a boundary round literacy. Anthropology's encounter with contemporary oral cultures had the same effect. Writing could be seen in this new way, questions about the consequences of writing, now began to seem urgent.