Mihai Nadin. The Civilization of Illiteracy. Dresden: Dresden University Press, 1997. 880 pp.; $ 75.00
Some people may be put off by the sheer size of Mihai Nadin’s book, The Civilization of Illiteracy. For those already comfortable in the civilization he describes, the book is too big and too heavy. And it has no pictures. The loss is theirs. While it is not light reading by any stretch of the imagination, it may be one of the most important volumes of the decade.
The Civilization of Illiteracy deals with the subject of literacy in all its aspects. Nadin approaches the subject from the perspective of human pragmatics. He explains the pragmatics that gave rise to writing and literacy, as well as the pragmatics that make these new “literacies” necessary. He explores the transition from the traditional linear concept of literacy to contemporary nonlinear modes of discourse, communication, and understanding. Nadin admits that he must preach to the unconverted through a medium he knows is losing validity in the marketplace. But only those who are literate enough to want to read will understand and profit from the text. Probably the only way around this dilemma would have been for Nadin to create a video or multimedia presentation rather than a book. Therefore, in order to accept his thesis, we have to take a step back to the time when the idea had more value than products or processes.
When Nadin speaks of The Civilization of Illiteracy, he means one in which “literate characteristics no longer constitute the underlying structure of effective practical experience”. There’s no one literacy that dominates over all others. We have evolved into a civilization requiring many different literacies. This seems to make sense in a world in which the global has become local. We have become Netizens, citizens of the Internet and the World Wide Web. As we move deeper into the age of sound bites and surfing the Net, we become overwhelmed by technological hype. Nadin breaks through the confusion. We have moved into an age where everything is pared down to its lowest common dominator, the lowest point that a mass audience can deal with. Our pragmatics demands this!
Starting with the question of which came first, images or language; Nadin reviews the history of language and literacy. How did we develop into a civilization of literacy? While the explanation is as complex as the human condition, we come away with an understanding of how this shift progressed. He follows the evolution from thought and word to image, pictograph, symbol, alphabet and the logic underlying grammatical sentences. Like humans themselves, language and literacy have evolved over a long period of time. Unlike spoken language, writing is a fairly recent event in the evolutionary timeline. The use of signs and symbols predates written language and our traditional concept of literacy. Nadin also points out, that even today, a few societies such as the Netsidik and the Bassari still prefer the intimacy and knowledge of a multimedial oral exchange to the distant univocality of written language. But it’s within the linear tradition of written language that our ideas of literacy developed and flourished.
Nadin explains how humans shaped language and literacy and how these have conditioned human thinking and acting. This sets the stage for his discussion of how literacy has influenced sports, war, religion, sexuality, the family, even our eating habits. He refers to Barthes’ (1978) observations on configurational eating habits of the Far East and the sequential eating habits of the West. As human activity becomes global, America exports its own McDonalds all over the world. More “Italian” pizza is exported from the USA than from Italy. As the pragmatic dimension of human activity takes over, paradoxical situations arise that seem to be at odds with our literate values. This is a main preoccupation in Nadin’s discussion of the traditional institutions mentioned above.
As expectations of efficiency take us away from literacy and into the digital age and the era of the Internet, we have moved into a new world characterized by different ways of doing things. The linear and sequential give way to non-linear and distributed. The written word that appeals to the mind is giving way to other sources of information: images, sounds, textures that are more quickly perceived through our senses. CD-ROM encyclopedias have been published which primarily rely on the use of small “QuickTime” movies in preference to the written word. These new modes of information and discourse use the nonlinear capabilities that digital technology makes possible.
The USA is the epitome of a civilization of illiteracy according to Nadin’s criteria. With the decline of literacy comes the move from the historic to the present. America is the land of the present, the here and now. American society validates itself on the material level, not on the level of the pure idea, through the trademark and sound bite, not literature. Nadin defines this dilemma when he states “We are our language”.
As with a good mystery, the ending should not be revealed. This much can be told: the adaptations and solutions that Nadin proposes provide for a happy end. The volume not only defines the problem but also gives a sense of hope, suggesting some positive methods for addressing our current predicament. He lays out a blueprint for new systems of non-linear education and exchange of ideas. In his vision of new literacies, Nadin feels that education has to become a living process and that we must adapt our pedagogy accordingly.
One of the aspects of the book that is most refreshing is the fact that he doesn’t use the traditional academic style of writing. Harking back to all original thinkers and philosophers, Nadin does not base his ideas solely on the work of others, but on what he has directly observed in life. The book presents us with an author unafraid of expressing his own ideas and letting them stand on their own merit. This is a real treat in an age in which most authors use their time and our patience regurgitating the ideas of others.
As an educator, I’ve seen first hand the evidence of Nadin’s thesis, but I’ve never been able to explain it as fully or comprehend its far-reaching effects until now. The Civilization of Illiteracy clarifies the many aspects of an issue currently confronting our society. How we address these issues will determine the future of civilization itself.
Roland Barthes, Lecon, Paris: Editions du Seuil, 1978.
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