Possibly amongst the most intriguing pieces of reading I have had to do, the writer takes on the action of writing, which I would say has always been taken for granted, as a technology within itself. Bolter does not relegate this technological aspect to that of the printing press or the computer, but rather as writing being the catalyst for the development of other technological potential and the two mentioned as catalysts for writing potential. Did that even make sense, or am I not so articulate with this technology?
He goes on to mention the Ancient Greeks and the science they were invested in to successfully express abstract thoughts onto space, which we now consider as art and outdated. On the other hand, he criticises the invention of the press (and especially the computer) as “the first uniformly repeatable commodity, the first assembly line and the first mass-production.” The implication is that despite all this advancement, the writer is then pushed further away from the writing, making it more quantitative than qualitative. The machine permits duplication, efficient printing, as well as rapid editing without the writer having to exercise the same mental and physical processes as that of the Greeks.
But what really touched me is the commentary on the advantages of literate men (and women), specifically white, in the long tradition of literacy. One could not deny the fact that white people brought up in a Westernised environment, surrounded by English-speaking people, do have the advantage of having that base upbringing to further their literary skills. Being born in the Philippines does not give me the natural autonomy nor the wider vocabulary of my colleagues and indeed provides barriers in my expression at times.
The question I posed above is not the first time that I may have posed it. It is more challenging for immigrants like me when having to translate thoughts in our own foreign languages to that of English. And I am not speaking about immigrants with broken English either, though of course they are a part of this category. I must make my own way of reaching that same level of understanding through activities such as further reading. Just as it is easier for me to speak in Filipino-English (mixed), which my colleagues would not appreciate, writing is a state of mind that “is not possible to put away.”
Image from David.